#this is just me collecting some of my favorite shots and calling it 'parallels'. so sue me

[sollucets]

rowan's eclipse anniversary celebration

week eight: parallels

[the-aphelion-archives]

I LIVE for moments like this. I LIVE FOR THISSSS

So, in this case, I'm going to suggest fics with below 1500 kudos! I've been reading Byler fics pretty consistently since season 4 dropped in 2022, and I've found that there are so many incredible fics in the massive library of Byler that exists on AO3, and reading the ones with the highest kudos really IS just the tip of the iceberg.

One of my favorite kinds of fic to recommend is the kind wherein various members of the party use an oddly specific scientific and mathematical approach to figuring out their relationships. One of the fics I was thinking of recommending for this is Mike Wheeler and the Laws of Motion, but that's actually got more than my self-imposed kudos limit, sooo... I guess you could informally go read that if you haven't already... but here is another fic rec along those lines: Dustin Henderson, the Scientific Method, and Homosexuality, which is short and told from Dustin's POV and I re-read it all the time.

If you are interested in reading fics about the Party having silly shenanigans in high school, one of my favorites is a 2000s AU called get him back! by @gaysforbyler. It's over 100k, but it is a COMFORT FIC. A shorter fic that's also a personal favorite is movie magic by dragons_like_smores, which is a no-Upside-Down AU where Will works at Family Video and Mike forgets to rewind his rental movies Every. Time. i hate how you're going through hell (when you'd never let anyone else) is another gaysforbyler fic, wherein Will and Mike have a long-overdue conversation that addresses Mike's depression and suicidal ideation. corollary is a very silly little fic where Mike notices that Will is exhausted and thinks they should take a nap in the basement together.

Some college fics I enjoy : feeling like the opposite is a short fluffy fic where Mike absolutely fails at clear communication, but it's great. like i am home again is a fic that almost uncannily parallels how me and my first girlfriend got together: Mike and Will are already in a long distance relationship, basically, and they're just being idiots who haven't figured it out yet.

One of my favorite fics, bury me in metamorphoses (with galatea, my sweet) is a fic where Will leaves the United States after the end of the war with the Upside Down and moves to Dublin, Ireland. It takes place seven years after his move, when Mike--a traveling journalist--finally finds him again.

For... the most random little shenanigan where they are literally already adults and should both have the brain development to be past this idiocy by now, here is a fic where Mike and Will get married on accident, sort of. For a fic with fewer shenanigans and a WHOLE lot of fluff, there's Bring Your Roomate(?) to Work Day, where Will is an art teacher and he brings Mike to class with him and they sort of hide that they're gay and living together. sort of.

Andiwriteordie is an incredible author of the Byler fanfiction world. (literally the first username that comes up when I open the search bar on AO3. TO this DAY.) This writer has literally created a hundred Byler fics, and though not all of them are finished and some of them might never be, many of them are multi-chaptered fics and all of them are excellent. Some of her top fics do show up in the first few pages of Byler fics when you sort by kudos, but here's my tip: look through her fics sorted by kudos, but start on the last page and work your way up. Andi has written several renditions of Mike or Will being possessed by Vecna, a fic about Will dealing with the long-term health consequences of the Upside Down (featuring the BRILLIANT kidovna), a fantastical story about a war between kingdoms, and (my personal favorite) a three-part series of fics related to birthdaygate. Lastly, when I'm feeling kind of crumby, this collection of one-shots written by Andi is one of my go-to ways to cheer myself up.

a swing set stuck in amber is an alternate universe fic featuring time travel--based loosely on The Time Traveler's Wife. Mike is kind of a little shit in this fic, but it's just elements of canon that the author incorporated. And I really can't say enough how much I LOVE this fic, it is absolutely worth the read. For another time-travel AU, one in which Will gets stuck in a time loop, there's yesterFriday by nbfutureboy.

My personal favorite take on the 'Byler getting Murray'd' headcanon, by far, is Run Boy Run by JuliaSkysong.

If you don't mind soulmate AUs: all this and heaven too is a soulmate AU that I love, written by losingcontrolnow. are you ready to call this love? is a soulmate au where Mike and Will grow up best friends, and then find out they're soulmates, and go through some shit about it. For an AU that takes place in an oldfashioned fantasy world, featuring prophecies and a hell of a lot of pining, there's Gotta Be a Strange Twist of Fate.

*Sigh* I almost don't want to recommend this fic again, because it made me BAWL MY EYES OUT WHEN I READ IT, but for a really intense fic about Will and Mike breaking up and getting back together five years later, I recommend our paper thin plans by delusionaltogether. IT'S NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART. I CRIED SO MUCH. or maybe I'm the faint of heart. whatever. it's fine.

If you like coffee shop AUs, two of my favorites are Hours (of telling you about) featuring writer Mike Wheeler and artist Will Byers because obviously, and you are sick (and you're married) which features Will and Max as best friends.

if you're ever in the mood for holiday-themed Byler fics, I have several favorites set during Christmas or Valentine's Day.

One of my ABSOLUTE favorite Christmas fics, a very merry cherry christmas, features Mike being extremely, extremely, EXTREMELY bad at social cues, resulting in some fundamental miscommunications about what exactly Will wants Mike to get him for Christmas. Julia_Skysong, one of my personal favorite Byler writers, has a fic called Home for Christmas (Please Have Snow and Mistletoe), featuring the Hopper-Byers visiting from California, El having her first real Christmas experiences and Mike going into a mental crisis over the fact that Will is suddenly hot. StepfordSnarker is the author of a fic called There's No Place Like Chicago For The Holidays--a short but very sweet fic, with Mike spending Christmas at the Byers house. Gaysforbyler has a fic called So this is Christmas (war isn't over), where Mike pulls out all the stops to make sure Will still has a good Christmas, even in the apocalypse.

heaven (let my love open the door) is a fic about Mike and Will and the way their Valentines' Day interactions change over the years. give you my sunshine, give you my best is a Valentine's Day fic about Mike "platonically" trying to help cheer Will up because he's sad. You're so gorgeous (I can't say anything to your face) is a fic where Mike is sad because no one gave him a Valentine... until someone does.

AND. Drumroll please. Last but never least!!!!!!!

For a fic where Mike's incredible advice also helps his mother Karen in the process of her lesbian awakening, read mom, i'm gay. wait, you are too? Featuring Mike and Will in an established relationship, Mike being mostly oblivious to everything else around him because he is daydreaming so hard, and Mike having the important revelation that he probably needs to learn how to do his own laundry.

Good grief, I stayed up too late writing this. Okay. You may do with this list what you will--please pick out the fics you think you'd most enjoy and start there, of course, and I hope this helps to alleviate your boredom in future. In all seriousness, thank you if you've read my whole response through to the end and I hope you enjoy a few of these as much as I do--and if you do, leave the authors kudos and comments and love!!!

Does anybody have some good, obscure, Byler fanfic recs? Ones that don't paint Mike like the devil himself? Because I have over 100 Byler semi-Mike centric bookmarks so the popular ones (top of kudos) I've already read. Also, I looked through ZeeBeeVee's bookmarks atleast 12 times in the past hour so I think I'm going insane. Anyways. Drop your ST fanfic and I will write my thoughts on it if you want lmao. I'm hella bored.

[fragilevixenfic]

My AO3 Fanfiction Links (Current)

“I’ve never really thought about making a “Master List” of my own work but I figured, now is the time to do so. If any of the links are incorrect just let me know. I fix. 

Adding in a “keep reading” tab because the list is starting to get long and intense.

Each fic is categorized and easily referenced. I’ll update as I go.

X Files

Series

Into The Shadows

XII (COMPLETE): A serial killer targets victims and leaves behind symbols of his affection -- but who is his intended target and what will it take to discover the truth? (This has a lot of trigger warnings)

Dance In The Dark (ONGOING Chapters 12/? Posted **UPDATED):  With the continuing murder trial of Miles, Mulder, Scully, and Max are confronted by the VCU with a case that seems to be mimicking the pattern by their, now infamous, psychopath on trial.

Echoes and Whispers

Parallel (COMPLETE):  The aftermath of the three little words that Mulder says to Scully in his hospital bed after being rescued from the Queen Anne as it re-appeared in the Bermuda Triangle...and the strange connection that Scully starts to feel to a memory that Scully couldn't possibly have.

Only The Night (ONGOING):  Mulder and Scully begin their undercover assignment as an engaged couple with the assistance of Skinner at the University of Maryland to catch a serial rapist, putting their newly formed physical bond to the test in this sequel to “Parallel”.

Casefics

Falling Away (COMPLETE):  Kersh’s assignment partially splits the team as Scully goes undercover under the watchful eye of Mulder as they both assist on an operation with SWAT and FBI personnel. (A gift for Greta)

Veritas se revēlet (COMPLETE):  (The title is roughly translated to let the truth be revealed in Latin) An impromptu wild goose chase leads Mulder and Scully to the drifts of a winter-locked Tonopah, Nevada—where a little more than the embodiment of Mulder’s imagination takes shape between the walls of the Mizpah Hotel in the dead of winter. (A gift for @monikafilefan)

She Walks at Night (COMPLETE):  Mulder’s knack for getting himself and Scully into sticky situations leads them to the heart of NOLA at the tail end of Hurricane season after barely surviving a Floridian storm—to investigate a rumor of a notable Voodoo Queen and missing girls trying to bring her back. (A gift for @starbuck09256)

Intrigues in the Dark (COMPLETE):   A string of suicides leads Mulder and Scully to a sleepy, coastal town in Oregon for the second time—on their return to The X File—as tensions run high and nothing is as it seems. (A gift for @admiralty-xfd)

By Light, Unseen (COMPLETE):   A series of re-opened cold case murders with one link…they’d been drained of every drop of blood and wore the same, haunting stare toward the sky with their lips aghast as if they were still screaming. (A gift for @serahsanguine)

Post-Series

A House is Not a Home (COMPLETE):  The mere thought of raising a newborn in a world full of horrors has every part of Scully’s emotional irrationality over firing on a chilly, winter evening. Mulder wants nothing more than to show her that not everything is gray and grim. (for @danceswithcybermen)

Remember the Reason (COMPLETE):  Post Series (Part 1 of the “Little Redhead Series”). Mulder and Scully already knew that life with a newborn would be difficult but the first Christmas with their two-month-old daughter throws every curveball…some worse than others, some more humorous. (For @underworldobsessed)

Confectioners Sugar & Snow Drifts (COMPLETE):  Post Series (Part 2 of the “Little Redhead Series”). Mulder spends the morning bonding with Eliana by having a Christmas baking session while Scully is out shopping for gifts. Messes, mayhem, and a healthy dose of laughter ensue. No moment is ever dull as the snow falls outside.

The Easter Bunny was a Fox (COMPLETE):  Post Series (Part 3 of the “Little Redhead” Series). Scully has to pick up Bill, Tara, and a couple of surprise family from the airport, leaving Mulder alone with their 6-year-old daughter, Eliana, on Easter Morning. All she has for him are curiosities as Easter’s non-Christian ideology unfolds before her eyes…creating the most unique bonding opportunity for a father and his daughter. (For Flicked_Switch)

Angst/UST/RST

Caught in the Rain (COMPLETE):  A dark, rainy night leads Mulder and Scully to a hole in the wall bar where glasses of Scotch and unresolved tension is re-visited.

Or We Can Burn (COMPLETE):  Post Never Again - expansion and continuation of the aftermath surrounding what Scully has been hiding from Mulder.

It Lingers (COMPLETE):  The aftermath of trauma and the lingering effects of Mulder’s risky attempt to recover the truth about Samantha’s abduction leads to a revelation from Scully about her own coping mechanisms and flashes into a past she doesn’t fully remember...and the path to which they lead thereafter. (For @red2007)

Fluff/Humor

Nervous Laughter (COMPLETE):  It’s been two full days since their tender, albeit brief, moment at the stroke of midnight and Mulder decides to be brave and methodical by inviting Scully over for a little movie and popcorn night for a film that has stayed locked in his mind as her favorite—The Exorcist. (This is a gift for @rationalcashew)

Lamplight & Shooting Stars (COMPLETE):  It’s Spring-time in DC and spontaneous, mutually taken vacation time has become a personal mission of Mulder’s to surprise Scully with so much more than an escape from their norm—and the unseasonable, uncomfortable city heat. (For @underworldobsessed)

Into the Nightlife (ONGOING):  A little paid vacation time never hurt anyone, right? (Not giving anything away this time)

Smut

Insomniac (COMPLETE):  Another lonely, sleepless night, another dingy motel, and another town that isn’t home for Mulder…but, something changed, with the last gasp of the air conditioner as his partner, and best friend, chooses to walk through the adjoining door. (Expanded writing exercise)

Vultus in Speculo (COMPLETE):  The last of the paperwork on the Strickland case has been finalized and filed and Scully goes off for a drink at a known FBI watering hole. Mulder is invited but doesn’t show up until after Scully is halfway through a drink—giving him an opening to inquire about a whole lot more than her flirtations with the Sheriff in the booth of a rooftop bar. (written for @msrheadcanon

Phosphorescence (COMPLETE):  Still reeling from their experience in North Carolina, Mulder and Scully take a much-needed excursion to the coast of Oregon, where a flicker of light becomes more than a curiosity in the middle of the night. (Written for @anniexami)

The Darker Side of Love (COMPLETE): Mulder does not want to talk but he does not want Scully to leave, either. (This is for the MSR fanzine vol 3)

Ficlets/Drabbles/Short Prompt Collection

Affirmations and Protestations: “Fluff and Angst” Prompts (ONGOING):  

 Chapter 1 - "You Weren't Supposed to Hear That" - prompt #5, 61, 77

Chapter 2 - "Shout!" - prompt #19, 61 (From Valerie)

Chapter 3 - "Litost" - prompt #1, 85, 97 (From Monika)

Chapter 4 - "Ad Infinitum" - prompt #42 (From Minuete)

Chapter 5 - "Brick" - prompt - After Scully calls Mulder in the ep Emily, she asks him to bring her some things from home. Her journal falls to the floor and Mulder sees some things written about him that she has never allowed him to know. (from Monika)

Chapter 6 - "I'd rather be oblivious" - prompt #46 (from Annie)

Criminal Minds

Angst/UST/RST

Dulce Periculum (COMPLETE):  Maxine and Spencer have continued seeing each other, in spite of the interference brought to the surface by Cat Adams. Spencer continues to work closely with the BAU after it nearly dismantled, with signature members scattering to the winds, leaving behind only a few, including himself, to keep working on their caseload. After a long, intense case, Spencer returns home to a little more than a can of worms. (A gift for an anonymous prompter)

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Angst/UST/RST

Chasing your Silhouette (COMPLETE):  They’d learned each other’s quirks and intricacies on the job—but when did it become over the line? When did physicality become a detriment to them once they’ve taken off their shields? When did they realize the line in the sand no longer existed? (This is meant to take place a couple weeks after “Zebras” – had to assume a timeline, I don’t remember actual dates)

Paternity Redux - Time Just Stopped (COMPLETE):  Her strength has always been immeasurable—but sometimes, something has to give and a string breaks. Nothing will ever be the same.“I’m trying my best, that is enough.” - UnknownThis is part of a challenge, to right a series of wrongs in an episode that has perpetrated many a discussion of “What Could Have Been”. WriterKC, Liv.Einziger, JustAnotherBookWorm78, MrsWellRested, EORocks, AlexisDawn, ChriskaPeach, and I have stepped up to the plate to do just that.

Oblivion (ONGOING 9/? Chapters posted ***UPDATED***):   The undercover operation in Oregon takes an unexpected, unpleasant turn for Olivia Benson as an injury turns her life, and career, upside-down leaving her with pieces of her memory scattered in the wind.

Humor

Unlock the Door (TENTATIVELY COMPLETE 2/2):   Olivia returns home from a celebratory series of shots with Kim Greylek and lets Elliot Stabler hear a little more than she ever intended to in the aftermath.

Series

Polaroids and Promises (COMPLETE):   The Special Victims Unit has undergone an enormous amount of changes in the past six months, to the point that they are drastically undermanned—until a transfer from the 13th precinct brings new life, and a little chaos, to the team. Will her addition prove to be a permanent shift or a flash in the pan?

Discarded Dignity (COMPLETE):   Elora continues to gain much-needed confidence as a member of the Special Victims Unit but an arrival booked for trespassing, assaulting an officer, and disorderly throws her progress into chaos as her past jumps to the surface. Will she be able to look beyond the misstep to solve one of the most convoluted cases she’s faced? 

Contract Corruption (ONGOING 10/?):   Dickie Stabler and Justin Andrisani are in over their heads--and the members of SVU and the Organized Crime task force must come together in order to set things right.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit/Organized Crime Crossover

Series

Words of love, words of lies, words of loss

Age of Regret (COMPLETE):  Elliot Stabler has never been good with words but ten years and a double on the rocks in a lonely room will make a man pour his heart out…in any way that he can.

Infidelis (COMPLETE): Elliot had been haunted by too many ghosts; expectations, fantasies, and a promise that he knew should never be kept. It was time to lay them all to rest. “I do not regret you…I regret what you did to me.” - Unknown

[ren-shonen]

AO3 Wrapped - Writers Edition

Answering these all in one go, LiveJournal style, because why not?

Post for reblogging

How many words have you written this year? 25,583! (Not counting WIPs, which don't add that much to the word count since most of them are still only in the outline stage.)

How many works did you publish this year? Nine so far, which is definitely nine more works than my January self expected to write this year (or at all!) lol

What work are you most proud of (regardless of kudos/hits)? Oh boy, that's tough. I feel like "heavy shield down" is my best work so far, but "Morning (calls for pain relief)" and "Just as Flowers Grow" required much more effort from me. I've learned a lot from all of them!

What work of yours has the most hits? "under the mirror of the surface" and "Morning (calls for pain relief)" have been neck-and-neck, just a handful apart, for a while.

What work of yours got more feedback than you expected? To be honest, I didn't go in expecting any particular level of feedback, so I can't really answer this question.

Favorite title you used "Give" is hands-down my favorite title for any of my works. The whole thing is just a big pile of polysemy, and it pleases me. lol

If you use song lyrics, which artist’s songs did you pull from the most? I have three song lyric titles (fewer than I expected!), and they're all from different artists, so uhh I guess it's a tie? "under the mirror of the surface" is from "Aquaman" by Walk the Moon; "Morning (calls for pain relief)" is from "Morning Calls" by Dashboard Confessional; and "heavy shield down" is from "Invincible" by Tool.

Pairing you wrote the most for this year? Definitely KiriTodoBakuDeku, even though it was almost all under the "ambiguous relationships" tag, haha

Favorite pairing you wrote for this year? Same as above, but I feel like the Bakugou platonic self-pairing from "heavy shield down" merits a special mention.

What work was the quickest to write? "heavy shield down" was written overnight in a twelve-hour blur and published the next day. It's possible that "Distance and Weight" was shorter than that; both it and "Give" were originally Twitter threads, so I don't have the Docs revision history available to reference. (I know "Give" did require some editing before it went up on AO3, though, and that took a few days due to beta turnaround time, etc.)

What work took you the longest to write? "Morning (calls for pain relief)" was eked out very slowly over the course of a week and then edited over another week. I labored over that one.

How many WIPs do you have in your docs for next year? I also have nine WIPs right now, funnily. One of them I originally intended to publish this month, but the weather and body stuff just aren't cooperating so far.

What’s your longest work of the year? "Ang, Ang, Ang (Means 'I Love You' in Dragon)" at 8,207 words. I'm still not sure how it ended up that long; I was aiming for, like, 4k. lmao

What’s your shortest work of the year? "Give" at 335 words

What WIP are you taking into next year with you? I have only published one-shots so far, so, N/A

What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag? "Future Fic" (on 7 of 9 works!) Here's the tag cloud:

(tag cloud made by creating a temporary collection and putting all my works in it)

Your favorite character to write this year? I won't choose and you can't make me >:(

The character that gave you the most trouble writing this year? Oh god, Kirishima is my favorite character in general, but his POV is very, very challenging for me to write! I am determined to get better at it, though.

What’s one pairing you want to explore next year? *cough* I might have some tentative plans to write more in the Circuits series (for which "Parallel" was the first work) and tiptoe into some KamiShinSero? I'm thinkin' about it.

Which work of yours have you reread the most? Oh geez. ...probably "heavy shield down," because I wrote it so fast that it didn't have a chance to take on that "overchewed gum" quality that things get when you spend too long working on them. So I still enjoy re-reading it.

How many kudos in total did you get this year? 574

Which work has the most comments? "heavy shield down" has 15 comment threads

Did you do any collaborative works this year? No, despite my ambitions in that direction!

Did you write any gifts this year? Yes! In fact, all of my works this year except for "Morning (calls for pain relief)" were written either as gifts or in response to a specific person's prompt. As it turns out, having a very specific target audience is highly motivating for me! (Given that the whole deal with the Planet BNHA monthly exchange is basically that plus deadline plus supportive community, it's really been a great experience.)

Did you receive any gifts this year? Yes, 10, and I'm still a bit floored by that tbh (I would actually really like to publish one more work this year, just to even that up 😅)

What’s your most common category? M/M (7 works), followed by Multi (5 works)

What do you listen to while writing? Some fics I put together a whole playlist, or else loop just one or two songs; otherwise, I have a "focis focis" YouTube playlist that I use anytime I need to stay, well, focused on something.

Favorite work you wrote this year? I don't think I could choose one, really.

Favorite line/passage you wrote this year? from "Thresholds":

Clutched close against Eijirou's chest, Shouto focused on their syncopated heartbeats, on all the oddly-intimate sounds of a body existing: the squirming grumble of peristalsis, the creak of shifting joints. This, at least, was the same, and Shouto felt the same familiar tug behind his sternum, drawing him closer. But, then just as now, they were practically intertwined: there was no closer to be.

I just love "the oddly-intimate sounds of a body existing" and "the squirming grumble of peristalsis" as descriptors, tbh.

Biggest surprise while writing this year? Writing fic at ALL! This year was my first time publishing fanfiction online despite being in fandom and reading fic for more than two decades. (And the last time I tried to write fic was using pencil and paper in middle school!) Being a fic author has never really been something I've had as a goal for myself, and more recently, it was something I didn't think I was physically capable of managing. But thanks to a LOT of kind enthusiasm, support, and encouragement, I did eventually get started. Since then, I've been wading in slowly, pacing myself. If I had my way, I'd have a new thing out every two weeks, but so far, a few thousand words once a month seems to be about the right speed for me. It feels good to have a craft to learn more about and keep myself busy with; it also connects me to others while still being really flexible around my ever-changing capacities, so I'm glad to have taken the leap.

[toovirgins]

I saw some discussion about ‘The Pound is Sinking’ on my dash recently - courtesy of @phonybeatlemania07 (good and well, too… one of my favorite songs from Tug of War and definitely my favorite part of any song from that album).

In talking of lyrical analysis, if you do consider the verse to be about India, I’d just like to point out some of the parallels between it and this quote from John:

Hear me, my lover (hear me lover)

I can’t be held responsible now (oh no, it wasn’t me)

For something that didn’t happen (I didn’t do it anyway) 

I knew you for a minute

Oh, it didn’t happen only for a minute

Your heart just wasn’t in it anymore

Paul McCartney, ‘The Pound is Sinking’ - Tug of War, 1982

Q. What do you feel about India now?

J. I’ve got no regrets at all. ‘Cause it was a groove and I had some great experiences, meditating eight hours a day - some amazing things, some amazing trips - it was great [...] It’s just that it’s difficult to continue it. I lost the rosy glasses. And I’m like that, I’m very idealistic. So I can’t really manage my exercises when I’ve lost that [...] It’s just that a few things happened, or didn’t happen, I don’t know, but something happened. It was sort of like a [click] and we just left and I don’t know what went on, it’s too near - I don’t really know what happened.”

John Lennon, Rolling Stone November 1968

The ambiguity with which they both regard the “something” happening (or not happening) in India has always been fascinating to me. There’s this mysterious “event” that neither of them want to explicitly detail, and it’s usually thrown into the middle of things—see: a song about “economics” or a discussion on the practical application of Maharishi practices—where the tone suddenly shifts and it no longer feels like J/P and the other party are discussing the same thing anymore. 

I also think that viewing Paul’s songwriting as a personal diary (as he does, too - The Lyrics) gives us more insights to things than any quote he says in an interview. John was very open, very willing to discuss whatever wild emotions were flitting around his head at the time - he had no problem taking shots at Paul in the early 70′s or calling out the bullshit of the Maharishi and things like that: things that, at the time, were very strong emotions for him, but that he, at different points in time, expressed regret/misunderstanding for or shifted his mindset. Paul was not quite on that same wavelength - I’ve always found his interviews to be very structured, very calm and collected. He doesn’t give much away in terms of what he’s feeling compared to what he’s practically thinking, at least not explicitly anyway (a discussion on body language and tone would be a wholly different one). And when they’re not, and Paul is caught off-guard by a question, you can feel the discomfort coming through the pages/screen. Songwriting has always been his strength for expressing emotions or detailing emotive life events, and I think that the passion and heart that he sings with in that verse of ‘The Pound is Sinking’ is very telling.

Anyway, that’s enough rambling for now. Stream Tug of War. And Happy (late) McLennon Day!

[lnterjection]

Sleepy Bois Inc and DSMP Fanfic Recs

Uhhh I realized I have a ton of stuff in my bookmarks list and might as well compile a list of favorites because I’m always looking for good fanfics, and this might help some people. Most of these are SBI, though a few focus on things other than their dynamic with each other. Nothing explicit here. Feel free to suggest more recs. 

Fics set in DSMP universe/about DSMP (One-shots first, then longer fics):

One-shots and series of one-shots-

therein lies the madness by sapphicist - 2095 words. Currently says it’s one chapter out of three complete, but can be read as a standalone one-shot. Nice introspective fic on Tommy’s exile and his parallels with Theseus. In 2nd person, but it’s actually done nicely. Mostly angsty, can have hopeful interpretation depending on how you look at it. 

crazy how life goes on without me (2090 words, one-shot) by itisjosh - What if Ghostbur did remember everything, and just pretended to be clueless and vapid? Made me cry. It’s so good. Tortured my heart. 

the inner mechanism of a black box (13521 words, one-shot) by Bee_4 - only work of a series called “system theory”. “Technoblade lets himself get imprisoned for Philza’s sake. He doesn’t plan on being there long. Unfortunately, he’s underestimated Pandora’s Vault. There are things that will make even the Blade fall apart in due time, as it turns out.” Yeah so Techno’s mental health goes out the window in this one and its written brilliantly. There’s comfort at the end, if it helps? 

A State For One Man Is No State At All (5247 words, two-shot) by angstfortheangstgod - “A different version of the festival, in which Dream shows up unarmed, the Community House is left intact, a traitor is executed, and Tommy doesn't betray Technoblade.” Ranboo centric. Angst and comfort. 

All the Kings Men series by MollyPollyKinz - “After Ghostbur's suggestion to do Lads on Tour, Tommy finds himself reunited with his family. However, escaping from Dream is going to be harder than anyone previously thought.” A connected series of one-shots and short fics about Tommy, his exile, his family, and escaping Dream. Well written, good characterization, great studies into the characters themselves.

ad astra per aspera series by cacowhistle - Collection of one-shots that start with Tommy’s exile and expand to be about SBI and their dynamic with each other, including a resurrected Wilbur. Really, really well written and probably my favorite of the “Tommy exile fic groups”. 

the fall of a hero series by cracklesnaple - “After being threatened with being exiled yet again, Tommy takes the decision into his own hands. If those around him can't see that he's given up everything to make this nation what it is, then he's not sure he can stay in L'Manburg any longer.” Series about SBI and mainly Tommy, eventually crossing over into Mianite territory in a way some might enjoy and some might now. Writing’s good, though, which is what I care about.

Longer fics-

Rewind (101002 words, 25 chapters, unfinished, last updated Jan 17 2021) by Anonymous - Best time travel fix-it fic I’ve ever read period. Tubbo and Tommy travel 10 years back from a very messed up future to the first L’Manberg election. Concept may seen a bit weird at first but trust me, holy fuck this is amazing. 

second chances (hurt the most) (8841 words, 4 chapters, unfinished, last updated Jan 17 2021) by Anonymous - “Wilbur wakes up alone in a bloody room, and has to come to terms with living again. (How can he go on, knowing who's blood is on his hands?)”. Amazing fic where resurrection requires someone else’s life as sacrifice. Phil is dead. Wilbur struggles to come to terms with his father’s decision, and his second chance. 

all scotch, no soda (47466 words, 43 chapters, unfinished, last updated Jan 14 2021) by fishstixx - “Vulnerability meant trust, though, and trust was a thing not so easily given. Post-exile and canon divergent, follows the consequences of Tommy’s isolation. Expect chases, heists, bloodshed, and the mending of a family.” Features raccon hybrid Tommy being badass, and I live for it. I really, really love this one. 

DON’T FORGET THAT ICARUS FLEW. (16426 words, 6/10 chapters, last updated Jan 1. 2021) by orpheusaki - “The day before and the days that follow Tommy's exile; told through the eyes of The Blood God.” Techno (and Dream) is a god, and gods often forget how the intricacies of the minds of mortals. He’s trying to get better, however. 

what do you fall for? (16374 words, complete) by tablrcloth - Ranboo centric fic with Techno, Phil and Tommy. Ranboo realizes that playing L’Manberg’s politics is less than ideal for him. What can I say, it’s just really good. 

Breathing’s Just a Rhythm (12631 words, 6 chapters, unfinished, last updated Jan 17 2021) by MollyPollyKinz - “Tommy, Tubbo, Jschlatt, and Dream all end up in the past. (Oh, and the Chat comes too).” Great time travel fic. 

What World Have We Inherited? (73635 words, 12 chapters, unfinished and last updated on Dec 22 2020) by Anonymous (this one has a series with all their works, and they’re all AMAZING). Holy fuck this one is probably one of my favorite fics in the fandom so far. “Wilbur blows everything to hell on the day of the Manburg festival, just like he wanted. When the ashes settle, it's just Tommy and Technoblade. It's not good, but it's better than nothing. It's just them, healing up in a world that never wanted them.” Amazing characterization, worldbuilding, everyone’s internal thoughts are portrayed and written so well. Even if it never updates again I would keep coming back to it. I rec this Anon’s works so much. 

In June, I Changed My Tune (29489 words, 6 chapters, unfinished and last updated on Jan 6 2021) by KryOnBlock - Eret runs away and eventually becomes friends with Techno. Nice cottagecore aesthetic. I have mixed feelings about this one - the writing’s good, descriptions and characterizations are really good. Just that there’s consistent punctuation mistakes and it takes me out of the world a bit. Everything else is good enough for me to continue reading, however. 

stay with him (24353 words, 12 chapters, unfinished, last updated Jan 9 2021) by junipersand - I especially rec the first chapter, which can be read (and originally was) a standalone fic with the summary “Every ghost had a purpose to fulfill. So what was Tommy’s?” Utterly heartwrenching, probably the most emotionally gut-punching bit of writing I’ve ever read in this fandom. It continues with other lore stuff afterwards that eventually branch off from just SBI and Tommy, but man. I don’t think I can ever forget that first chapter. 

I’m not angry at you, well, sometimes I am (52801 words, 16 chapters, unfinished, last updated Jan 14 2021) by sircantus - After Tommy is exiled, he runs away to Techno’s house instead of going off with Dream. SBI decide some revenge and “world domination” is in order. 

Fics set in AUs outside DSMP happenings:

One-shots and series of one-shots-

Empty Crowns AU by UnderUrsa - the SBI + Tubbo are gods, and a family. Series of one-shots. Nicely written, what can I say? Some angst, some fluff.

Secure, Contain, Protect AU by blue000jay - Amazingly written SCP AU. Knowledge of the SCP universe would help with understanding some more meta things, but is not needed to understand most of it. Some angst, disturbing themes around memories but nothing terribly gory.

CLASSIFIEDS. (13804 words, finished). SCP pages on SBI, short stories and audio transcriptions as well as files, lots of good lorebuilding here. Features an escape, + Tubbo!

CONFIDENTIALS. (13232 words, finished). Centers on Dream Team.

ARCHIVES. (1270 words, one-shot). What happened after SBI and Tubbo’s escape from the SCP foundation.

old gods (new gods) AU by WriterWinged - the relatively well known SBI gods AU. Amazingly written, great character interpretations. 

the gods are cruel (none crueler then you) (1394 words, one-shot) - As much the grammatical mistake in the title hurts me it’s no doubt one of the best pieces of work in the fandom. 

and yet they find kindness (and so do you) (2/4 chapters posted) - continuation of “the gods are cruel”. 

there’s a risk to the world (but the kindest are strongest) (2/3 chapters posted) - continuation of “the gods are cruel”. 

SBI Antarctic Princes AU by ScripWriter -  One of several Antarctic Empire AUs, this one just has these two preliminary one-shots but they’re nice bits of fun and neatly written. All fluff and mild hurt with lots of comfort so far. 

Younger Holding On Another (1781 words, one-shot). Techno is a good brother and reassures and newly adopted Tommy. 

But Oh, Don’t You Know How It Goes (2511 words. one-shot). Tommy, Techno, and Wilbur have some “fun” at a boring gala. Phil is very exasperated. 

Antarctic Princes ‘verse AU by BirchWrites - AU where Techno, Tommy, and Wilbur are princes of the Antarctic Empire (well, Techno’s technically the emperor now), but this time the events of DSMP still happen (at least up to the 1st season).

Homeward bound for the arctic ground (10562 words, one-shot). Wilbur and Tommy travel to the Antarctic Empire in person to ask Techno for help in fighting Schlatt. Good worldbuilding and acknowledges Wilbur’s beginnings of insanity while still being rather light.

Surprise Hugs (2542 words, one-shot). Dream doesn’t realize Tommy is Techno’s brother and thinks he’s going to get killed for tackling the infamous Blood God.

Family Reunions (1396 words, one-shot). Fundy never realized he’s loyalty and Techno informs him unexpectedly.

Longer fics-

leave me your starlight (14620 words, 4 chapters, unfinished and last updated Jan 11 2021) by findingkairos - “Once upon a time, Philza Minecraft is the only person who does not shy away from the bloody teen that regularly turns the tide of war. This cements a friendship that will last wars, empires, worlds, and lifetimes.“ Amazing backstory fic on Phil and Techno’s relationships, one of my absolute personal favorites. Very well written and really digs into the intricacies of Techno’s character (or an interpretation of it, but hey, that’s what all fanfiction is).

I was a kid in a village, doing alright, then I became a prince overnight (21736 words, 5 chapters, last updated Jan 13 2021) by sircantus - another Antarctic princes AU, this time centering on 16 year old Tommy catching the attention of Phil, Techno, and Wilbur after thwarting an assassination attempt. Really well written. Actually, I rec all of sircantus’ SBI stuff because they do amazing work.

antarctic adage (26591 words, 4/7 chapters posted, last updated Jan 13 2021) by blue000jay - Another very well written Antarctic princes AU with Emperor/ruler Phil. Are we seeing a pattern yet? blue000jay is another writer I’d rec, with really great SBI stuff.

a renewal of faith, and of family (56684 words, 31 chapters, unfinished, last updated Jan 13 2021) by SolivangantStories - One of the only fics here that doesn’t feature SBI, this one is Tubbo and Dream centered. Basically, the DSMP!Tubbo is executed by Schlatt and wakes up in a world where Manhunt!Dream is trying not to die and is also actually a nice person, to Tubbo’s surprise and confusion. Not SBI and technically not even DSMP, but it’s really good so I’ve decided to rec it anyway.

[sweetchup]

Not A Chance!!

Type: Shalnark x reader

Prompt: O’Inari’s Wisdom — On any day during this week, people of the ages of 19-30 years old will go through a walk in the woods carrying a clear ornament (Traditionally it used to be a Jar). The ornament is usually filled with the person’s favorite scent or perfume, Name and Phone number on paper slip, and their dream type of lover on a rose petal. When walking through the woods, the person allows the God/Goddess of the woods O’inari’s Imps to trick them into meeting their soulmate. It is a must to switch ornaments with that first person they see for it is said the imps won’t allow them to leave the forest unless they do so.

Author Note: I decided to try a different writing style with the kiss scene this time. Tell me what you guys think.

(Prompts/Rules) (Masterlist)

“Hey (y/n), Bisky, What’s this?” Gon asks. His voice was hardly heard over the many chattering of the NPCS and other players in the city as you looked at him. Gon first shows Bisky, who was closer to him, a baby blue flier that you couldn’t quite read from where you were standing. “Is it some sort of Greed Island event?”

“Wait a minute. Gon do you not know what O’inari’s wisdom is?” Bisky questions, shocked. Walking over closer and looking from behind Bisky, you realize that the Winter Holiday of O’inari’s Wisdom was indeed taking place on Greed island. You were slightly surprised for a second but it soon started to make sense the more you thought about it. It had started snowing on the island recently and if the game was parallel to the times in the real world then it should also be December in the game. So it just made sense that Holidays were also coded into the game to match the changing seasons.

“Oh, so it’s a Holiday,” Gon says surprised once Bisky explains it to him, “We didn’t celebrate it on Whale Island. Maybe it’s because I was so young. But, at the very least, (y/n) will be able to celebrate it with us.”

“Huh?” You murmur confused. You never mentioned anything about doing it, “I’m not doing it. Actually, why would you think I would do it?”

“Well, you don’t have a boyfriend right? So you must have not done it yet. So you should do it! It will be fun!” Gon explains enthusiastically as Bisky nods in agreement. Of course, it was just straightforward thinking done by Gon, not thinking of other possible possibilities. Man, why exactly did Killua have to leave you to take the Hunter exam again?

“I actually have done the Holiday before,” You tell the two as you start to walk away, calling forth “book” as you do so. As you examine through your binder, you continued to explain what you meant to the younger boy, “I’ve actually done it many times. Sometimes doing a full week some years. Other times going to different locations from other cities or towns. But in all the years I’ve done, I never once heard nor bumped into anyone else in the forest. So I just gave up on th—”

Bisky suddenly cuts you off with a loud exaggerated gasp.

“Oh My~ Then that must mean you really do have a soulmate out there (y/n)! What powerful young love!!” Bisky states dreamily as sparkles and flowers seem to dance around her. All you can do is sigh at the older woman antics and continue on your way. Honestly, to you there was no way Soulmates could exist. Not a chance! There was just no science nor reason behind it. Nen could be explained. Monsters could be explained. But soulmates, not at all. It was just some made up myth with no hard facts.

As you make your way to the gate of Aiai, you feel Gon tug at your top to catch your attention.

“But, (y/n)?” You take your eyes away from your binder to look at Gon. “Do you think you could try? Perhaps one of the needed 99 slot cards is given at the event.”

“Oooo, good thinking Gon,” Bisky states looking at the flier and then looking at you. “With that possibility, I order you to do it then (y/n). Afterall, you are the only person who could do it out of us.”

You and Bisky stare at each other tensely for a little. Slightly challenging each other to step down until eventually you give up and finally look away. Even though you aren’t looking at her, you can hear Bisky doing a dance in success. “Fine then where do we go to take place in this event?”

“Apparently, you can get there by using an Accompany to Winterfell. We don’t even need to go there beforehand to use the accompany card.” As Bisky explains, you flip your binder and grab a spare accompany card. This is the last one from your binder so Gon and Bisky will have to start using their ones from now on. Well, Until you can get to Masadora to get some more.

“Okay then, let’s get this over with,” You state. Though for some reason you have an uneasy feeling in your stomach as you hold the card up. You wondered why, perhaps you felt nervous? But why would you? Greed Island was hardly crowded so this is the lowest chance of meeting someone during the Holiday. Maybe it was just the fact you haven’t done this tradition in a while. Yeah, that was probably just it, “Accompany on! To Winterfell!”

—.—.—.—.—

The crunching sound of snow is the only thing you hear as you walk through the forest. For what felt goes on for miles, all you have been seeing was snow covered pine trees. Not even birds or other sources of life have been spotted while you have been walking in this forest which was quite strange. How long have you been walking you wondered. It was hard to tell but you guessed maybe an hour or so?

Stopping next to a tree, you run your hand up it’s trunk somewhat tracing the engravement in it. You had already seen this before. It was like you have been going in circles, even though you have actually only been going straight. Was this some sort of test in the game? Maybe Gon was right about a specified slot card being here.

“Book!” In a poof, your binder opens up. Or, at least that's what you expect to happen. However, it doesn’t pop up. After calling the book a couple more times, you realize it was no use. It just doesn’t work. Was this some glitch in the game?

All of sudden, a rush of wind catches you off guard. It wasn’t just any breeze however, this gust of wind was similar to that of a giant icy blizzard. You cringe as the snow in the wind pricks and scratches at your skin. You needed to take cover from the harsh wind before you freeze to death.

Quickly, when you try to look around to find somewhere to take cover, something whips into your face, blinding you. As you struggle to pull it off of you, the wind suddenly comes to a complete stop. Weird, very weird. Finally getting it off of you and taking a good look at the item, you realize it was just an in-game scarf. Actually, you weren’t even sure it was an item from the game since it had a tag from the real world.

“Hey! That’s my sc—“ Turning around at the cheerful voice behind you, you see a familiar man a couple of feet away from you. You don’t understand why you recognize the man until he suddenly goes on guard and realization hits you. Wait a minute you remember that stance. He was a member of the Phantom Troupe wasn’t he? Shalnark, right? You quickly get on guard as well when he grabs an antenna from his pocket. An manipulator, huh? In a one on one fight like this, he has the clear advantage on you.

“Hey, I’m not here with the chain user,” You state, breaking the silence between you two. You weren’t usually someone to give up but avoiding a fight with him and going your separate ways is the best way to go in this situation. Afterall, the last thing you needed was to become his newest puppet. “I’m with the kids and all we are doing is playing the game by collecting cards.”

You wrap up Shalnark’s scarf and lightly toss it in front of his feet.

“I have no problems with you guys and I don’t want to fight you.” You continue as you start to walk backward, away from him. Hopefully, that woman, Pakunoda, told the other troupe members how you deteratarted Kurapika away from the option of placing a Nen dagger in her heart and helped spared their boss’ life.

It’s quiet and tense for a couple of minutes, not even the wind was blowing, before the blonde nods in agreement to your idea. You watch as he carefully picks up his scarf and then both of you two turn away from each other at the same time to walk away. Thankfully, counting on that woman seemed t—

All of sudden, after a couple of steps, the large gust of wind returns. You tried to fight against it and continue forward but it only seemed to grow stronger the more you tried. It grew so strong in fact that it lifted you right off your feet and threw you backward. You hoped to land on the soft snow but, of course with your luck, you hit something else very hard with a loud thump. Originally, you thought it was a tree that you hit but once you roll onto your side, you come to the realization that whatever you landed on doesn’t feel anything like tree bark.

“Ow! What was that…” Shooting up at the voice, You realize it was Shalnark that you had hit. You attempt to scurry away from him fast however, as soon as you get too far away, a gust of wind drags him back towards you. You pause as Shalnark lifts his head from being buried in the snow and looks at you confused.

“I-It’s some sort of error in the game. I swear. Maybe with the coding? Or—“ You blab out in a tangent trying to explain what was going on. Soon however, Shalnark sighs loudly, cutting you off.

“That’s a really stupid conclusion you cam up with. If you had once stop to look around you in this game, you would have realized this place, Greed Island, actually takes place in the real world. Specifically a straight shot east of York New.” Shalnark explains, somewhat sarcastically. All you do is roll your eyes. Of course you got stuck with the jackass of the troupe.

“Well then since this game isn’t actually a game, what do you think is going on, if you think you are oh so right?” You spat back at him. For some reason, you just couldn’t understand why he was being so rude in this situation, it was clearly neither of yours fault.

“Simple. This,” Shalnark states confidently as he takes the ornament from his pocket and lifts it up to you. You can’t help but laugh loudly at the idea, causing him to scowl at you.

“Y-You can’t be serious?! You and I? Soulmates!?”

“Of course! You do realize that in the myth it’s impossible for us to leave until we exchange our ornaments.” Shalnark explains, tossing his ornament at you. Clutching it in your hand, you quickly examine the ornament before scoffing.

“Yeah, not a chance,” You state as you toss his ornament back to him, causing Shalnark to sputter confused. “In no ways am I giving my personal information and phone number to the tech expert of the phantom troupe. That’s just plain stupid.”

You and Shalnark bicker on back and forth for a while until eventually he goes quiet and just glares at you. Honestly, in your opinion, it was better if he just chose to quit talking. He snaps his fingers catching you off guard, “Okay I have an idea! How about I try to convince you we are destine—”

“Soulmates?” You finish for him, slightly cringing.

“Yeah, that! And if I can convince you, then you can feel safe to give me your ornament so we can both leave.”

You ponder a little on the option he suggested. Honestly, you actually didn’t have much of any others option to begin with, “Fine. What do you got to convince me?”

“Well, first,” You watch closely as Shalnark grabs the Rose petal out from his ornament. Oh, you knew where this was going, that was actually a smart idea. Maybe this guy actually had some brain cells. “I’m going to read off my dream type of lover. I bet this will describes you.”

Reading off his petal to you, you listen carefully. As the more he goes on, you can’t deny that it did somewhat describe you, almost on the dime. As Shalnark shows the petal to you to prove he wasn’t making stuff up, You decide to grab your own petal. He seems to get excited that you finally understood what he was saying.

“See I tol—“ Shalnark is cut off when you let out a loud laugh.

“Yeah no way. Mine is ‘Someone who is like the sun; always cheerful as well as mentally bright.’” You read off, chucking it back into the ornament.

“Hey! I’m pretty cheerful! And bright!” Shalnark states, finally flashing you a smile for the first time you’ve been with him.

“Ha, I doubt that.” You say, though you can’t help but feel your heart skip a beat at how handsome he looked with a smile on his face. Your eyes go wide and you mentally slap yourself. What in the world were you thinking just now? You were flustered over him?!, “N-Next! What’s your other ideas?!”

“Aw come on!”

After a couple of more attempts from Shalnark to prove you two are soulmates, as well as many more confused borderline bipolar back and forth feelings on your end, Shalnark has run out of ideas and you two sit in silence as he tries to come up with more.

“Is that all the ideas you have?” You ask him shivering slightly as you pull your jacket closer for warmth. Looking up towards the sky above the thick pine branches, you see that it had just started to get darker out, effectively making it ten times colder as well. It now dawns on you that at this rate with your progress, you two could possibly freeze to death out here if you couldn’t get to a warm shelter before night.

“Shalnark. Here I—“ You suddenly pause what you were saying as you turn to face the man, “what the hell do you think you are doing…?”

You looked confused at Shalnark, who had moved closer to sit next to you. You didn’t know what he was up to but you definitely still didn’t trust him. As you try to lift yourself up to move away, Shalnark quickly grabs your wrist to keep you put where you were. Oh hell no. You struggle against his grip, attempting to pry his fingers off of your wrist but while you are distracted he uses his other hand to grab your arm. Effectively trapping you.

You struggle against him a little more but it only causes him to push you backwards down into the snow, him slightly leaning over you. Now nervous about what Shalnark was possibly doing, you shout out to him, “H-hey! I’ll give you the ornament okay? I don’t want—“

You feel the rest of your words die in your throat as Shalnark leans his forehead against yours, causing him to get very close to your face as well. Biting the inside of your mouth, you close your eyes tightly as a way to try calming your pounding heart. You couldn’t tell if your heart was racing out of fear or possibly something else. Though, again, it wasn’t like you could think straight at this point on time to figure which one. Cutting off your thoughts, Shalnark lets out a boyish giggle and tells you, “For someone who says they hate me and doesn’t believe in soulmates, your face sure is feeling quite hot. It’s almost as if you are flustered by me.”

Quickly, most likely in an attempt to save your dignity, you turn your face away to him so his face could no longer touch yours. As you do so, your heart leaps out of your chest when you hear him let out a small aww in disappointment.

“H-hey! I said I’ll give you my ornament so let go of me!” You sputter out, trying and likely failing at keeping yourself composed. You know it’s hard for you to think logically in a situation like this but you would’ve thought you had enough common sense in you to not get flustered by a mass murder.

“Hmmmm… Nope” Shalnark answers, popping the “p” at the end. Surprised and bewildered, You whirl your head around back to look at him. He seemed to get a kick out of your reaction because he can’t help but laugh. “You are correct by the fact that all I wanted originally was to take the ornament and leave. But the more we went on, talking and bickering, I realized I wanted something else.”

“H-huh? What? I don’t have much of anything else.” You questioned. Was he talking about cards in the game? Gon carried all of the number slot cards so you didn’t have anything that was useful to Shalnark.

“Silly girl~ It’s simple.” Shalnark flashes you a smile as he boops your nose with each next word, “I. Want. You~”

As you give a weird expression in response to Shalnark flirting attempt, he looks at you confused as to why you looked like that before full on laughing, when what looked like steam started to flow from out of your head. He couldn’t believe he fried your brain with a silly pick up line. It wasn’t even a good one either.

“Adorable~” Shalnark whispers out so softly and quietly that you almost don’t hear it. You go to ask him to repeat what he said again, but stop when he leans down. He wasn’t—

You can only watch as he inches closer and closer to your face. You don’t get why you don’t stop him, you know you probably should. But you just couldn’t for some reason you didn’t quite understand.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Shalnark kisses you. Stealing your first kiss, a precious thing you could never be able to get back from him. Though you doubt you would even try if you were able to.

As his lips moved against yours, you had to admit they were surprisingly soft, not at all rough or chapped like what the very few romance books you’ve read over the years described. Though you had to admit those boorish books were right about one thing, kissing someone was a feeling you’ve never once experienced before in your life. Authors have described the experience in many different ways but as Shalnark pulls away from your lips only to dive it once. Twice. And so many more times that you’ve lost count, you realize yours wasn’t like the ones written down. It didn’t take your breath away, it wasn’t rough or deep, it wasn’t messy or desperate.

But, it was yours. A feverish kiss if you must find a word to describe it. A kiss that even while pushed down into the freezing cold snow, you felt you were burning up inside. So much so, that your brain seemed to melt and your muscles turned to jelly from an non existent heat.

Finally after a while, you two pull away from each other, still in a trance like state from what happened. It’s quiet, nothing is heard nor said between you two as you just stare at each other. You know it is now dark out. You know you should be trying to get back to Gon and Bisky before they worry. You know it would be in your best interests to try to get away as far as you can from the dangerous man before you. You know you shouldn’t be feeling such feelings for him, for it is too soon and he probably doesn’t even deserve to be able to experience a pleasant emotion like this one. You know all these things almost as if they are engraved in your heart.

But, even when knowing all these things, you can’t stop yourself from dragging Shalnark back in to give you another kiss.

[serenlyss]

Parallel

Fandom: The Owl House Rating: G Relationships: lumity, luz & her mom, amity & her family Summary: Luz and Amity have more in common than just their favorite book series. Crossposted to AO3: Parallel

This one-shot is set between Enchanting Grom Fright and Wing it like Witches. I just can't stop thinking about how Amity and Luz are kind of foils for each other and how their families are so different but similar in certain ways. I feel like they'd bond over their respective parental drama. Anyway this show has stolen my heart and Lumity slays me so have some gay bonding.

---

Something’s off with Luz.

It isn’t difficult for Amity to notice. She’s a perceptive young witch; it’s a quality she’s always considered to be a strength of hers, and she knows more than she lets on, but Luz is also notoriously easy to read. She wears her heart on her sleeve, and she doesn’t mince her words--not when she really means it. It’s a trait of hers that makes Amity feel simultaneously warm and envious, but it also means that Amity is acutely aware of every shift in her friend’s moods and mannerisms. Today, it would seem, her balance is especially skewed.

The two of them had retreated to Amity’s library hideout after classes for their now-frequent reading sessions, a tradition Luz had dubbed the “Azura Book Club” despite the fact that Amity’s personal collection is far larger than just a handful of fantasy novels. Over the past few sessions, Amity had begun to introduce to Luz a few of her favorite novels that originated from the Boiling Isles itself, and for the last few sessions, the human girl had been practically glued to her side while she eagerly read over Amity’s shoulder. Amity would swear up and down that the close proximity definitely does not make her so nervous that she can hardly focus on the page in front of her, but if Luz notices her slower reading pace and persistently flushed face, she has yet to comment on it.

This afternoon, however, Luz is keeping her distance. She still sits close enough to Amity that their knees touch where they’re sharing the same giant beanbag chair, and it’s still intimate enough to set off the alarm bells in Amity’s definitely-not-distracted mind, but she’s been uncharacteristically quiet all afternoon. There are no excited comments, no involuntary noises in response to the surprising events happening in the narrative, not even a quiet chuckle at the book’s various jokes and hijinks. In fact, now that Amity reflects on the prior school day and even into that morning, Luz has been kind of spacey and distracted all day. Well, more than usual, and in a different way than Amity has learned is typical of her. She keeps pulling out her phone and fiddling with it, unlocking it with some kind of purpose only to hesitate and return it to her pocket every time. Even now, when Amity turns her head to see if Luz has finished the page they’re on, she sees that her friend isn’t even looking at the book at all, and she’s holding her phone in both hands. Her gaze has wandered over to a shelf to her right, but when Amity tilts her head to get a better look, she sees that Luz isn’t looking at anything in particular at all. She seems lost in her own head, unfocused. From this angle she even looks a little sad, her mouth turned down into a persistent frown that Amity doesn’t see very often.

Amity swallows, contemplating what she should do. Should she play dumb and act like nothing’s wrong, try to smooth things over? She’s never been a very… emotionally intimate person, at least not on the outside, and she doesn’t want to pry into anything personal Luz might be experiencing for fear that it might drive her away. Stop overthinking things so much, she mentally berates herself, recognizing her bad habit and attempting to squash it. Luz isn’t the kind of person to get angry over something like this. It’s Amity who dislikes the prying.

“Um,” she finally speaks up, attempting to grab Luz’s attention. It works, and she watches Luz blink and straighten up in her seat, as though awakening from a trance. Immediately, the sad fog that had been enveloping her gaze subsides, and she musters a meaningful--if unusually small--smile, quietly prompting Amity to continue. Once again, Amity considers playing it off, turning the subject to a new book or a happier, more lighthearted conversation, and again she corrects herself. “Are you okay?” she asks instead, nervously thumbing the corner of the book’s page to release some of her apprehension. “You’ve been spacing out, and you keep pulling out your phone. Are you expecting a call or something?”

Amity’s never seen a person stuff their phone into their pocket faster than Luz. Her smile turns sheepish, and Amity almost misses the flash of guilt that passes through her expression for just a moment. “Oh! Nah, I’m not expecting anything. Just antsy, I guess,” she deflects. It only serves to make Amity more worried.

“Are you sure? You just seem… out of it, I guess.” She turns her gaze down to the book still open in her lap, frown deepening. “I mean, you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, especially if it’s something personal, but, um…” She trails off, feeling the telltale rise of a blush on her face. What a time to start feeling bashful! “W-we’re friends, right? You can tell me if something is bothering you. Because we’re friends.” She stumbles over her words a bit, wincing internally at her own lack of tact. Could she be any more awkward?

Still, Luz does look a bit relieved to hear this, and she nods her head. “Yeah, of course,” she says immediately, with full confidence in the statement. It eases Amity’s nerves every so slightly, but it also brings with it a tinge of disappointment. Somehow the word “friend” doesn’t feel quite right. But now isn’t the time for that, Amity reminds herself, pushing that thought out of her mind for the time being.

Luz lets out a loud sigh and flops back on the beanbag, jostling Amity in the process. “I really am okay,” she continues, her voice more self-assured this time. “I just… I’m worried about my mom.”

Amity blinks, a little surprised by the admission. Luz doesn’t talk about her parents very often; it seems to be a sore subject for her, and Amity doesn’t dare bring it up with her, not after Grom. Apparently it’s been eating at her more than she’s let on, for it to lead to this. “What about her?” she prompts, swallowing back her own worry. She slips a bookmark between the pages of the novel they’d been reading to mark their place, then sets it aside to focus all her attention on Luz. “Is she not responding to you?”

Luz musters up a wry smile. “Kind of the opposite, actually. She sends me texts almost every day,” she replies, an obvious fondness creeping into her voice.

Amity is… confused. It’s obvious that Luz loves her mother, and from what little Luz has said, her mother loves her just as much. “I don’t understand,” she says with a shake of her head. “Do you not like getting messages from her?”

“I do!” Amity says quickly, almost in a panic, like she’s afraid of anyone thinking otherwise. “That's not what I meant.” She lets out a groan of frustration, giving her legs a kick and scrubbing her hands over her face. She’s silent for a moment, hands hiding her expression, before she finally peeks out from under them to glance in Amity’s direction. “Hey, if I tell you something, can you, um, keep it between us?”

Her voice is quieter now, layered with an air of secrecy, and it just makes Amity more curious. Still, she suppresses her inner gossip for the sake of respecting Luz’s feelings. “Of course,” she responds honestly. “What happens in the club, stays in the club.” She recites a line Luz is fond of repeating whenever their club discussions turn more personal, but this feels like an extra weighty secret for Luz to be sharing.

Still, her attempt at humor pays off, winning a genuine smile from Luz, who immediately blurts out, “My mom doesn’t know I’m here.”

Amity blinks, shocked, and is quiet for a few seconds as she processes this information. “Wait, what? How does she-I mean, she knows you’re not home, right?” she presses, frantically trying to wrap her head around this situation.

“She thinks I’m at summer camp,” Luz clarifies, clear disdain for the camp tinging her words. “She’d freak out if she knew I was here!” Guilt starts to take over her expression again, tugging her lips into a deep frown. “You saw her at Grom, right? That’s what I’m afraid will happen when she finds out I ditched her camp. I’m supposed to be learning boring adult stuff, like how to be polite and not say weird things and, I dunno, file taxes? Adults do that, right?” She throws her hands up in the air, huffing.

Amity shakes her head, a little overwhelmed. Sure, she’d suspected something was up at Grom, but she hadn’t known just how deep her rabbit hole goes. “Taxes?” she mumbles to herself in confusion, then gives her head a shake. That isn’t the important part. Staring down at Luz’s expression, Amity feels bad. Luz is obviously agonizing over this on the inside, and has been since the day she’d arrived at the Boiling Isles. Something in Amity really hates seeing the way Luz avoids her gaze, like she’s ashamed to be admitting this. She’s twitchy, too, looking for any way to let out her nervous energy. At the moment, she fiddles with her fingers, crossing and uncrossing them, and picking imaginary dirt from underneath her fingernails.

Amity lets out a long breath, steeling her nerve, and flops back onto the beanbag at Luz’s side. The force of it jostles them both, and despite herself, Luz can’t help but let out a little laugh when she’s nearly thrown onto the ground. She wiggles around to reposition herself, and Amity nearly chokes on a breath when Luz’s arm presses against hers and comes to rest there. She’s suddenly very aware of how hard her heart is beating, sitting so close to Luz like this, but she doesn’t dare move, for fear of disrupting the moment. Her voice cracks just a bit when she says, softly, “Why are you so intent on hiding it from her? I don’t know much about humans, but is it really so bad for you to be spending time here, with us?”

Luz sighs dejectedly. “That’s the thing. Everything about this place, everything that I love, is the reason she wanted to send me away in the first place!” she says. “You may not get it, but I’m not just a weirdo here, Amity. I’m a weirdo on Earth, too.”

“Of course you’re a weirdo, I already know that,” Amity says before she can stop herself. She can’t hide the snickers that bubble up in her throat when Luz hits her on the shoulder good-naturedly.

    “Not funny,” Luz complains, but Amity can see the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

    Amity swallows down her laughter. “Sorry, sorry. It’s not an insult, promise. I like your weirdness,” she admits, hastily turning away before Luz can see the easy blush that comes to her face so often these days.

    She hears Luz laugh softly beside her, and takes it as a victory. “Thanks,” she murmurs. “I wish everyone could accept it like you and Willow and Gus do. My mom sent me away to camp because she wanted to fix my weirdness. No fanfiction, no cat ear sweaters, no fantasy novels. I know she’s just worried about me, but it’s not like I’m hurting anyone! Is it really so bad that I like nerdy things and want to geek out about them?” Turning to look at Amity, she forces a grin. “Don’t answer that. I promise it’s no big deal, it’s just something I worry about sometimes-”

    Luz keeps talking, but Amity is frozen. She hesitates to admit it out loud, but Luz’s words hit a little too close to home for her liking. Flashbacks of her younger self being scolded by her parents crop up in her mind, punishments for silly things; associating with the wrong people, participating in activities they didn’t approve of, ditching her studying in favor of something fun. Instances where her parents had pushed her away from what she wanted and towards their own ideal. It all made so much sense now. “I totally get it,” she blurts out, surprised and astounded that she and Luz, from two completely different worlds, maybe even different dimensions, could have something so intimate and personal in common.

    Luz looks surprised, too. “You do?” she says.

“Yeah, I really do,” Amity echoes, and a smile breaks out on her face despite the heaviness of the topic. Of everyone she’s ever met on the Boiling Isle, only her own siblings have really related to her family’s… complicated dynamic, and Edric and Emira aren’t exactly people Amity is keen on confiding in. “My parents do it too. You saw them, in Willow’s mind. They do stuff like that all the time. I’m a Blight, after all, I have a reputation to uphold on their behalf. If you don’t do things their way, you get scolded, right? Can’t go giving off “the wrong impression” or it reflects badly on them. Your mom wants you to do what she wants, not what you want. That’s exactly how my parents are with me and my siblings.”

Luz is staring at Amity in stunned silence, sympathy clouding her gaze. “Yeah, that’s exactly what it’s like,” she sighs. “It’s hard, trying to live up to her expectations without feeling like I’m giving up everything I love. Is it hard for you, too?”

Amity shrugs. “I guess. My parents are easier on me than on my siblings, though,” she admits, clasping her hands over her stomach. Her elbow rubs against Luz’s in the process, but her friend doesn’t seem to notice. “Ed and Em were under super strict control when they were younger. I guess they coped with it by rebelling wherever they could. They still do.” She shrugs her shoulders. “Mom and Dad still try to keep them under control, but, well, you’ve seen them. They don’t take orders easily.”

Luz giggles softly at this, nodding her head. “I’m an only child. I think Mom feels like if I keep going down the path I’m on, that I’ll somehow ruin my life and make her out to be a bad mother, but it’s not true. I don’t know how to explain to her that I’m just fine the way I am, and that I’m not going to end up a failure just because I still like to read fantasy books.”

“You’ll figure it out,” Amity reassures her. “In the meantime, you can be as weird as you want around me.”

To her surprise, Luz actually blushes at this, her tan face going ever so slightly darker. It’s so unlike Amity’s own pale skin, which could and would turn bright red at the slightest provocation, that she can't help but stare. “Thanks, Amity. I'm really glad that you're my friend,” Luz confesses.

Humbled and more than a little embarrassed, Amity opens her mouth to deflect, but her words get tangled up in her mouth when Luz suddenly reaches into the space between them and takes her hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. All coherent thought immediately leaves Amity's mind, and she's certain that she's red to the tips of her ears from the way her face burns. “N-No problem,” she manages to stutter out breathlessly, and she thanks whatever gods are watching that she’s able to string together a reply at all.

Amity has held Luz’s hand before, but it’s never been like this. She sees now how big of a difference there is between grabbing someone’s hand to help them stand up, or to steady them, or to keep from being separated in a crowd, and holding hands just because you want to. Luz’s palm is warm and firm against her smaller, daintier one, and she’s fitted their fingers together in a way that is decidedly, unnecessarily intimate. There is no practical reason for Luz to make this kind of gesture, she just does it because she wants to, and because it feels right to her. Amity can’t help but admire how brave she must be to make such a gesture so casually, when Amity herself can barely share the same space with Luz without combusting into a stuttering, rambling, disorganized mess. “Did you, uh, want to keep reading?” she asks, her voice soft in the hidden room, but the close proximity means her voice doesn’t have to carry far.

“If it’s alright with you, I’d like to stay like this for a little while,” Luz replies. It’s not often that Amity hears the rambunctious human speak so quietly. Luz shifts to get more comfortable, slipping her cell phone into her pocket and out of sight. Her shoulder presses against Amity’s and stays there as the two of them stare up at the glow-in-the-dark stars Amity had once climbed the shelves to stick on the ceiling.

“Okay,” Amity says, turning to give Luz a small smile. She wonders if Luz notices how red in the face she is. She wonders if Luz recognizes what it means, if she’s known all along, or if she writes it off as some magical quirk or another, oblivious to the way her actions make Amity feel.

Right here, in the moment, Amity can’t bring herself to care whether or not she notices. She holds Luz’s hand, looks up at the ceiling, and feels that everything is going to be okay.

[rueitae]

Writing Roundup 2020

This is a writing reflection I’ve been doing for myself every year for the last four years. Its a positive boost to myself see how far I’ve come and look back on my progress for the past year and look forward to the new year. 

Everyone is welcome to use this same format if they’d like to do the same! 

~~~~~~~

Stats:

Words written:

330,000, which is nearly half of all the words I’ve written on Ao3 in the last three years. 

One Shots Posted (all fics plance unless otherwise stated):

In the Arms of the Ever(pink?) Tree (4463 words)

For the Plance Secret Santa exchange. Post s8 date/not date on a snowy moon. Love confession. 

Birthday Treats (2129 words)

For Pidge’s birthday this year! Domestic family fluff, breakfast in bed, plance kids.

Begin Again (Together) (4805 words)

Canon divergence from before episode one! Pidge and Lance are established dating when alien intervention brings them to where they are supposed to be: with the Blue Lion. Just a brief look into what the AU would look like. 

Common Ground (4521 words)

A treat for my friends who introduced me to Magic Knight Rayearth and pointed out some fun character parallels. There is this beautiful art Arya made to go with it because we’re all trash for both series. Plance meet up with Fuu and Ferio post series for both couples. 

Bonded To You (1808 words)

For the Langstron Halloween Exchange! Established plance with a baby Lance is trying to keep safe from a witch who would take advantage of the child’s heritage. 

It Tasted Good (6785 words)

Pikelavar for Pikelavar Month! The premise is crack, but it's mostly treated seriously. Pike ate the Jewel of Jitan by accident and doesn’t realize it until Haggar finds them. Meklavar gets Protective.

The Remainder of Days (3188 words)

Part of my Bad Things Happen Bingo. Fantasy AU where Pidge is a minor forest goddess and Lance is her neighbor mortal farmer. 

I Love You a Lily More Each Day (3232 words)

Another of the Bad Things Happen Bingo. Canon compliant where Lance is undercover at a flower shop and knee deep in an illegal smuggling operation. 

Lease on Life (4978 words)

This one was also part of Bad Things Happen Bingo and was an experiment. It’s POV of an oldest plance kid, canon verse. Her parents’ Paladin days come back to haunt them one night. Some cute family stuff too in there. 

Ready to Dance (4135 words)

For the Valentine’s Day exchange! Post series. Lance tries to get back into the party scene and Pidge rescues him from a disastrous night. 

Loopholes (5476 words)

Technically I didn’t write this fic this year, but a very kind reader asked if I would post this to Ao3, so it was my first fic of the year on Ao3. It’s Lotura! Originally a gift for a dear friend I’ve had since elementary school. It’s a fantasy AU where Lotor stumbles into Allura’s kingdom needing help. 

Next to Me (7311 words)

Also for Bad Things Happen Bingo, this is probably one of my favorite fics of the year. This is the canon verse AU that went all wrong in s7, and Sendak succeeds in destroying Earth. Lance and Pidge end up not only his prisoners, but also two of the last humans in the universe. Ends open ended, but it became a series in the end!

Into Me (14248 words)

The sequel to the above fic. There are two versions, this and the one below. The title tells all. Lance and Pidge come to terms with their new life aboard Sendak’s flagship and do their best to keep the other comforted.

Into Me (non-explicit version) (7228 words)

Exactly the same as the fic above, only this one is SFW

Sunshine (3831 words)

A Bad Things Happen Bingo! One of my favorite concepts. Canon verse. Pidge gets sick while she and Lance are on a scientific mission. 

Showoff (635 words)

A really short fic for a friend on their birthday, featuring their plance kids!

Respite of the Heart (4181 words)

A fic I have been wanting to write for a very long time. I love the concept of Pidge as a Disney Princess in the sense she has the forest guardian theme and all these animals love her. So there’s some play on that as the Paladins stop for lunch on their journey back to Earth in early s7. Lance comes to a realization and they have a chat surrounded by the animal friends. @anchoredtetherart did a phenomenal piece to accompany it. Please look at it in awe here.

The Hardest Part (3960 words)

For Bad Things Happen Bingo! An AU of the episode The Reunion where Pidge doesn’t return when she’s supposed to. 

A Planned Sacrifice (4988 words)

Another Bad Things Happen Bingo. Canon verse. Pidge assumes that being a sacrifice for the ‘forest god’ is strictly ceremonial and at worst a wild animal. It’s actually Sendak, who no one has seen since Shiro shot him out of the Castle. He remembers Pidge and is far too pleased to see her again, tied up on a silver platter. 

Almost Forgotten, but Not Gone (3946 words)

Bad Things Happen Bingo. AU sometime in s1 where Haxus isn’t as dead as Pidge thought. 

Touch (7519 words)

Written for the Lance Goes Boom bang! It was inspired by @fenixseraph ‘s amazing art here! It’s a different take on The Way Forward, where Pidge and Lance are separated from the rest of the team and placed in their own cell. And the Red Lion causes issues. 

Chaptered Fics started/added to:

Wolf In Thieves’ Clothing (4516 words)

An AU of The Castle of Cagliostro from Lupin the Third series. Lee, you have my thanks forever for making me watch this finally. Pidge is a literal princess whose kingdom is in the middle of an internal coup. Lance is a gentleman thief who rides with his best buds Hunk and Matt. Their paths are destined to cross again when Lance goes back to the castle he used to call home. 

Game of Love (4593 words)

The most crack of the bunch. AU of Fall the of the Castle of Lions where Sendak and Haxus get away with it all. Pidge and Lance are prisoners on Haxus’ new ship, and Lance finds an opportunity for eventual escape when he learns that Haxus has a crush on his second in command. Operation matchmaker begins. (happy ending planned for all)

What Tides May Bring (20704 words)

Collab with the fantastic @anchoredtetherart for MerMay! Established plance as mermaids and guardians of their elements with adorable mer child. Then angst because they are all captured by a ‘research’ institute. 

Seasons of Magic (16546 words)

I actually added a chapter this year! Ongoing collection of one-shots with mage Pidge who lives in the country and cultivates her plant magic and makes potions with the assistance of her dragon familiar, Lance. Mostly domestic fluff. 

Too Soon and Not Soon Enough (11438 words)

Added another chapter this year to my Keith-centric AU. It’s basically VLD but five years early and they’re all literally child Paladins. Keith gets to meet Krolia earlier and its fun to go into tween friendships as they try and navigate the reality of their situation. 

Seeds (48833 words)

Added a ton earlier this year. A collection of plance fics all or mostly under 500 words. All meant to be adopted by others if interest strikes. Covers many genres.

Chaptered Fics Finished:

Resolve to Fly (75799 words)

Written for the Pidge Angst Bang. My artist @alchemie0 did an outstanding job capturing the feel of the fic. Look at the art here! Canon verse AU where Pidge encounters Haxus, who has crashed on Earth. She helps him repair his ship in excitement and good faith, which he pays back by kidnapping her. For two years she survives as little more than a housepet on Sendak’s ship. Gen.

Who's Protecting Who? (28989 words)

Also technically not written this yeah, but posted. A collab with Hush waaaay back in 2018. It's a plance Altean AU with Pidge as distant royalty and Lance as a bodyguard.

A Dish Served Cold (21533 words)

Finally finished this one! Canon verse in which Pidge accidentally runs into Sendak on an isolated planet. Sendak takes advantage of this encounter and tries to return to the Empire with her in tow. Much Pidge whump. Gen

Reflections: 

Best title 

I still really really love Too Soon and Not Soon Enough (11438 words). Because it's too soon for the Paladins to be Paladins, and for Keith it's not nearly soon enough for Krolia to return. It just feels like it has a lot of heart to it. I hope I can keep it going, but my ideas are incredibly scattered for it. 

Worst title 

Touch (7519 words). Yeah it’s a play on ‘Don’t you touch her’ but it feels soooo dry. 

Best/worst last line

Best: This was really, really hard choice this year, but ultimately, making up for the terrible title, its Touch (7519 words) 

“It feels good to escape the ship with all of his teammates, secure in the knowledge that he has a way forward not just as a Paladin, but also with Pidge.” 

- Not only did I manage to fit the title of the episode in there, it's got that hopeful tinge to it and reflects on personal growth both internally and with Pidge. 

Worst: This one isn’t necessarily bad from Begin Again (Together) (4805 words), but it could be better. It didn’t get quite the epic sense I was hoping to pull from it.

“Okay,” he smirks, hand firmly on the throttle. “Operation save Earth starts now.”

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than you thought, or about what you predicted?

Definitely wrote way more. Even with posting two fic that are essentially the exact same, I still ended up writing nearly half of my total Ao3 word count this year. (330,000/670,000). Doing Bad Things Happen Bingo was a bit part of that - I was very inspired at the beginning of this year - but also there were many events I participated in (8 total!!) on top of my personal projects. 

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest.

A really hard decision this year, because there are several that make me really happy. I think oddly enough though, it’s Game of Love (4593 words) because of its potential and how much crack it is. It has such whacky rom-com energy to it but also that underlying angst of the situation I can fall back on. My favorite trope to explore is what happens to the characters when they’re captured. I just really enjoy the concept and the challenge to make such a concept believable with minimal suspension of belief. 

Okay, NOW your most popular story.

Using kudos as my gauge (and not counting the chapter fics), the winner is: 

Respite of the Heart (4181 words)

Not surprising because Ivy’s art is STUNNING.

Story most underappreciated by the universe?

I think that’s It Tasted Good (6785 words), the pikelavar fic. Pikelavar is underappreciated in general

Story that could have been better?

For all I was excited to write Sunshine (3831 words), it didn’t quite fall the way I had imagined in my mind. I don’t know if it was the structure or I was running out of steam or what. All i know is that I wanted more but all I could concentrate on was that scene where he’s caring for her in bed. Maybe I was just too ambitious.

Sexiest story?

No brainer it's Into Me (14248 words). Literally. Which really shocked me that it happened. Didn’t think I’d write any smut at all, let alone this year. This particular fic just kinda called out for it 

Saddest story?

The prequel to the above fic: Next to Me (7311 words). How much more sad can you get than Earth being destroyed, being Sendak’s prisoners all while trying to tell each other ‘i love you’ without seeming weird because you’re the last humans in the universe. 

Most fun?

I think it's Ready to Dance (4135 words). Just Valentine’s fluff and impromptu slow dancing in the park at night. 

Story with single sweetest moment?

I’m picking What Tides May Bring (20704 words). Listen, mer Lance and mer Pidge playing with their mer baby in their domestic paradise is probably one of my favorite things I’ve ever written. Dad Lance has my heart. 

Hardest story to write?

The last chapter of A Dish Served Cold (21533 words) was like pulling teeth. I’m pretty happy with it in the end but at the time man it was so hard. 

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them?

I wrote smut. It was...weird? But also strangely calming. I wrote more for another fic but it's still a WIP. I definitely need to be in the mood to write it. 

Proudest Achievement:

The Pidge Angst Bang. Resolve to Fly (75799 words). Look at that word count. I only wanted something under 3k at first, so it was just going to be Pidge meeting Haxus. But by the time I finished that part it was already 10k. So even though I was going through a rough part of my life, I just kept going and it ended up being my therapy. I’m really proud of the fic and I love my artists’ pieces. It really lifted my spirits. (You should all really go check out the Ao3 collection of all the bang stories and art they are AMAZING you won’t regret. If you love Pidge angst they are all must reads.)

What are your fic writing goals for next year?

I’d like to finish my Bad Things Happen Bingo card and then focus on my current WIP, that includes the Seeds collection. There are days I still feel a bit overwhelmed, and I’m still trying to find a routine after moving. I’d like to do more events too, but I think I need to be more selective about which ones I do. I don’t want to burn myself out. 

Apart from that, I’d really like to try and give back to the community more. I’d like to start consciously writing fics for others without an event to go by. 

Past Years:

2017

2018

2019

[twdmusicboxmystery]

FTWD 6x03: Alaska - First Thoughts

Wow! Where do I even start with this episode? There were So many Bethyl parallels in it. For today, I'm just gonna talk about the broader, more obvious ones. As usual, I’ll do details tomorrow. I was literally shouting at my TV entire time I watched it. Things like, "scissors!" "Alaska!" "Fifth floor!" You get the idea.

***As always, spoilers for FTWD 6x04 abound below. Don’t read until you’ve watched!***

This is pretty much about Al and Dwight. Both of them on major Bethyl proxies. Just to recap, Dwight is looking for Sherry. He was a massive Daryl parallel back in S7 & S8, even wearing Daryl's clothes at various points. Dwight losing Sherry is much like Daryl losing Beth.

Then we have Al. For anyone who doesn't remember, back in episode 5×05 of FTWD, she met Isabel. There was kind of a whirlwind romance between them and they were heavily paralleled with Beth and Daryl. So, we’re getting more about this episode. Let's dive in.

First, we see Al and Dwight going to the house. The first thing that caught my attention was Al talking about how people had been staying there and they were all dead, now. She counted 15 sleeping bags. That made me think of the golf club in Still, because we’re talking about a group of people who holed up somewhere with sleeping bags, but by the time our characters walk-through, they're all dead. So, golf club feels.

Then Dwight went upstairs while Al went down. She went into a room that had a whole medical set up in it. It wasn't until Dwight came down to her a few minutes later that he actually said they were in a funeral home.

Let me repeat that, guys. THEY. ARE. IN. A. FUNERAL. HOME. Going through it. And in the basement was a medical set up. Al opened a drawer and it was full of scissors. Remember, we saw scissors on a medical tray near Daryl in Alone when he led the walkers into the basement. And of course we saw them already in both episodes of Fear this season around Morgan and Daniel. So, scissors you definitely thing the season. (X, X) And the parallels are massively a thing in this episode.

When Al is still in the basement, there’s even a Rich Bitch walker. Dressed in pink. See why I’m so excited about this episode?

Al and Dwight literally sit on top of a coffin (think Daryl in Alone, sleeping in the coffin) and drink “skunky” beers.

Let me talk about skunky beers for a minute. I know it's a common term, but the last time I remember hearing them say it in the show was in TWD S4. Episode 4x07, I think, when we were still seeing the Governor’s back story with how he met Tara and her sister. They sat around talking and drinking skunky beers.

The thing is, the Gov was actually a big Beth proxy. True, he was a bad guy, but he was a proxy in that he disappeared and was presumed dead, especially by Daryl and Michonne. Remember in 4A, they talked about how they had stopped looking for him because the trail had gone cold. But then he showed up again later. So, he was “just gone,” presumed dead, and then there was a return/resurrection theme. And we heard mention of the skunky beers right before he showed up at the prison again to wreak havoc.

In this case, the talk about skunky beer and pretzels (which we heard around Dwight and Sherry before, but remember that pretzels represent the holy Trinity) right before Al reconnected with Isabel and Dwight reconnected with Sherry.

So, we’ll have to be on the lookout for more mentions of skunky beer. I think they foreshadow an imminent character return.

Dwight finds out Al has been tracking Isabel and knows where she might soon be. He even calls Isabel “beer lady,” probably because Al told him that she and Isabel shared a drink together. (More Bethyl parallels.)

Dwight has a "seriously," line and he encourages Al to go find Isabel, saying that if he knew where Sherry was going to be, nothing could stop him from going to her.

So, they go into the city and here we get massive Grady parallels. By this point, we've had golf club/Still parallels, funeral home/Alone parallels, and are about to get massive Grady parallels.

It's not a hospital, but rather just an office building. But there's a helipad on the roof and some guy who apparently fell off the roof (think Trevitt, but I'll go into more detail about that tomorrow). They even make jokes about how the elevators probably don't work and They’ll have to climb up to the top. They use the stairs, rather than climbing up the elevator shaft as Rick and Daryl did in s8, but still.

Once inside, they find a community of people living on the fifth floor. The exact same floor Beth lived on with the Gradians in S5. The people are sick. Al diagnoses it as the bubonic plague, based on the black boilers they have. So, we also see a lot of rats running around and Al and Dwight talk about them a lot. Definitely some Pied Piper symbolism going on here. But I'll talk more about what they said about the bubonic plague and how it's spreading tomorrow. Because it’s very interesting.

As the episode progresses, Al and Dwight slowly make it up toward the roof and Dwight gets to the point where he's not sure he wants Al to go anymore. He didn't realize she could get shot by the CRM just for showing up, but Al wants to go find Isabel. Here, she gets a bunch of Beth dialogue, including talking about, "calling it living." I’ll go into the dialogue more tomorrow.

In the end, Al does make it to the roof, but she ends up telling Isabel turned back. She doesn't want Isabel to get sick or to abandon Dwight when he's ill.

She talks to Isabel on the radio and, through some code speak, Isabel manages to convey that she knows who Al is and recognizes her. She tells her to get some beer out of one of the supply kits. Underneath the bear is a box of the antibiotics they need to treat the bubonic plague. So, in essence, Isabel kind of saves everybody by pointing Al toward those antibiotics.

I found this super-interesting because it's what we’ve believed will happen with Beth for a long time, now. If anything, both Dwight and Al represent Daryl. They’re the characters who we’ve followed onscreen, just as we’ve followed Daryl. Their significant others have disappeared, for the audience as well as from them. So, Sherry and Isabel, the unseen ones, represent Beth.

Which is why it's also important that Isabel is inside the helicopter organization. It's part of the reason we think Beth is there as well. But Isabel appeared and basically found a cure that saved everyone. That's good and it will end up having really heavy Beth parallels.

Then there was my favorite part at the end where Dwight and Sherry reconnect. They talked about her earlier in the episode, but I didn't expect it to happen just yet. I thought they were just priming us for her return and she would probably appear soon. But I really loved the end of this episode! So sweet and epic and a foreshadow for Beth and Daryl’s reunion.

Before I end, the episode is called Alaska. I don't know if everyone remembers this, but Alaska has to do with the wolves. In 5x16, just before Daryl and Aaron trip to Wolf trap, they find an Alaska license plate. Aaron and Eric always played the license plate game, though with actual license plates, and Alaska was a rare one. So this is a callback to S5 and Aaron collecting those license plates, along with the wolf trap.

The reason we relate Alaska to Beth symbolism is because the flag on the Alaska license plate has the Great Bear constellation in it which includes North star. It’s part of the Sirius/North Star symbolism. It's connected to the wolves, to Beth symbolism, and to Aaron, who has often been a Beth proxy.

What does it mean in the context of this episode? Well, once again, we have Dwight looking for Sherry and Al looking for Isabel. Both are looking for their significant others who have disappeared. They even talk about how they haven’t found an Alaska license. Dwight says, “Hawaii and Alaska aren’t just going to fall into your lap lap. You have to work for it." And then, just below the Grady-like building where there are sick people living on floor five, outside of which he found Sherry and on the roof of which Al reconnects with Isabel, they find an Alaska driver’s license.

To put it another way, finding the Alaska license was a foreshadow of Dwight finding Sherry. He’d searching for the license from Alaska, and he found it. He'd been searching for Sherry, and he found her.

This, to me, is just another evidence that all the Beth/wolf symbolism we pointed to back in S5 was real. It was a foreshadow of how Daryl would find her again. Reuniting with a romantic partner who, up until now, was "just gone." Even though Al and Isabel didn't entirely reconnect, Dwight and Sherry did. So, also keep an ear out for Alaska symbolism. Very important!  

It was such a good episode, not only because of all the TD symbolism, but because of the reunions. This is why we still watch the show. Not all the episodes are quite this good, but when they are, they're well worth it.

Okay, I stop there for today. Details tomorrow. (Lots of them.) What did you think of the episode?

[dippedanddripped]

Courtney Salmon — or CS Visuals, as he calls himself on all social media platforms — is a Birmingham, UK-based filmmaker and photographer whose latest project attempts to document the parallels between sneaker culture and his Black British heritage.

Falling under his personal brand All White No Hype, “Please Don’t Touch” is an art project that compares sneakerheads’ obsessive nature of collecting sneakers to the maintenance and upkeep of the traditional Caribbean “front room.”

To say Salmon’s own love for sneakers has shaped his career would be an understatement. His journey has taken him from hyped drops and filming Kanye’s very first adidas YEEZY drop in London to establishing his own brand. Salmon got into filmmaking through skateboarding — a path that many creatives in the industry take — before transitioning to music videos and, ultimately, filming and documenting sneaker releases and events.

Why did you start All White No Hype?

After the birth of my son and being out of the game for a while, I became disenfranchised with hype culture and didn’t want to participate in it. I still had the desire to engage with sneaker culture, but my outlook had changed. At the time, I was wearing basic, all-white classics, so I decided to make them my focal point.

There was also a big need for me to find something that I could consider my own. I didn’t want to be another freelancer who shot content for other brands.

Where did the idea for "Please Don’t Touch" come from?

The idea came after visiting my girlfriend’s grandmother’s house and poking my head into a room I had never been in. It turned out to be the front room. It was like a time capsule and I immediately knew I had to create a project focusing on these rooms because they are soon to be extinct, as members of the Windrush generation are in the latter stages of their life.

For those who don’t know, what is the Windrush generation?

The Windrush generation is a group of people who came to England from the Caribbean in the 1950s at a time when a lot of manual labor jobs needed filling. Caribbean people were invited to take those roles, but they were met with a lot of resistance and racism. They were seen as a second-class citizen.

What is the importance of the front room?

The front room was the heart and soul of the house. It contained a bright, colorful-patterned wallpaper and carpet and sofas covered in protective plastic. My personal favorite was the glass cabinet that held an abundance of unused glassware and trinkets. The room was always kept in pristine condition and was a kid-free zone.

For me, it’s what the room represents. It’s a manifestation of the Windrush generation’s hard work during a time where racism was rife. They worked jobs that others didn’t want until they were able to acquire a house. And in this house, they built their own sanctuary. The front room.

What are some of those parallels you mentioned earlier?

The easiest parallel to draw is the upkeep of the front room. The fact that you have a sofa or a carpet but there’s plastic over it to keep it clean is similar to how shops like Flight Club wrap their trainers in plastic to preserve them. Or certain people put their shoes in plastic bags so that the oxygen doesn’t cause the midsole to crumble.

But the real, deeper connection is that the people who put plastic over their sofas usually come from lower-class environments. They have to preserve things because they don’t actually have the money to replace them if they get damaged. Sneaker culture derives from an inner-city environment and was formed by people who found a sense of pride and identity in a particular item. The acquiring and preservation of these goods give sneakerheads status among their peers.

This is exactly the same as the collection of unused glassware or trinkets stored in the glass cabinet. That practice is known as conspicuous consumption — the acquiring of luxury goods to gain status within a socio-economic system. That’s the real parallel I’m focusing on.

How has sneaker culture changed over the past few years?

Originally, sneaker culture was about buying something — not because of the monetary value it had, but because you knew no one else had seen that pair before. Hearing “What are those?” used to be a positive thing.

Also, back then, just because you had money, it didn’t mean you were going to be able to source those kinds of sneakers. It was for those in the know. Now the trainer market is basically run by people who have money.

How important is it that traditions get passed down and people are educated on the history of Black British culture?

Massively. I can't stress how important the passing of traditions is, as they hold valuable stories that are connected to our identity.

The media reports how young Black British boys or people from inner-city areas don't contribute much to society. The reality is they contribute to the world in many ways, one of them being trainer culture. Black boys have got a massive role to play, because we have influence. We like to consume. And when we consume, we influence people. But our influence can’t just exist on a consumption level.

The whole premise of “Please Don't Touch” is to bring a greater sense of self-value to Black British youth through the preservation of the front room and to also put a spotlight on the contribution we make to sneaker culture.

Right now, people need uplifting and something they can relate to. Hopefully, my project can do that.

[itsclydebitches]

RWBY Recaps: The Greatest Kingdom

Hello, glorious RWBY fandom! It’s that time of the year again. No, not the holidays. Rather, it’s the roughly twelve weeks where my Saturdays are lost to the void of churning out 4,000+ words of typo-laden analysis for our favorite web-series. Does that sound like a good time? If so, stick around and keep reading.

Now, those of you who joined us last year will recall that I took issue with numerous aspects of Volume Six. Many of you are capable of summarizing these aspects in great detail considering that the conversation never stopped on my blog between January 26th and, well, today. But for those of you who don’t otherwise suffer my metas or who might be joining us for the first time, here’s a very short guide to the stuff we’ve been chatting about the last few months:

Holy shit they really went all in on dragging Ozpin, huh?

Is the group part of a collective consciousness now? What happened to diverse thinking?

Should un-licensed teenagers steal military property and start grimm-drawing battles with national allies? No or double no?

We hate adults? Is that really a thing?

When will Oscar’s on-screen development come back from the war?

There are numerous, numerous other connected topics, from Rooster Teeth’s handling of physical assault all the way to theories regarding the relic’s potential influence and Jinn’s motives, but that’s the basic gist. Oh, and we now have a subset of the fandom who got big mad over fans headcanoning trans!Nora based on her new color scheme. ... So that’s where we’re starting this volume off.

Just so we’re all on the same page:

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Anyhoo, with that bare-bones context out of the way, let’s dive in.

We begin, as usual, with a shot of the shattered moon. Except this is the first volume where we know precisely what happened to it and all it may mean for humanity. It lends a certain amount of gravitas to our start. Now, rather than the more generic, “Ah. Right. That motif. Still a mystery, huh?” shots of the moon function as a quick reminder of the group’s new stakes. 99% of the time the focus is on Salem and our heroes’ attempts to keep this genocidal dictator from destroying and/or enslaving the entire world, but “The Lost Fable” set up that the true, end-game antagonists have always been the gods. Even if Salem is destroyed, they still exist as a continued threat to humanity. If they wish to use the gods to help them in their quest against Salem, they likewise risk their judgment. Having introduced them, that’s a tricky problem the show is going to have to solve before its end.

For now though we pan down to the Atlas military, numerous ships and lots of chatter over the radio setting up precisely how massive, organized, and deadly this army is. I would like to remind everyone that this is what the group deliberately decided to piss off by not merely stealing an airship, but unnecessarily attacking the head special operative of the Argus base. The fact that the military has grown more “aggressive” in Weiss’ absence has no bearing on her original knowledge that stealing/attacking this group would be a horrendous idea. She knew it. Qrow knew it. Everyone ignored that in favor of Jaune’s idiotic plan. I bring this up not to rub more salt in a long open wound, but to re-establish how the group is, thus far, unable to think ahead and accurately weigh the consequences of their actions. More on that later.

Their ship, Manta 5-1, is welcomed home and instructed to land so that a security team can debrief them. Whoops. Jaune, again in his infinite wisdom, reminds everyone that they achieved their goal of getting to Atlas. So now they just need to find some answers, yeah? Not quite. Weiss immediately points out that landing with a stolen ship means that security won’t let them anywhere near Ironwood… which, again, is something that holds true regardless of whether the military got more aggressive and their leader more dictator-y. This is not new information. Oddly enough, a group of teenagers with only one licensed huntsmen among them (considering that Maria is presumably still keeping a low profile) flying a stolen airship doesn’t exactly breed the sort of confidence that lets anyone---paranoid or not---approach a leader. These were all issues from the start that the group didn’t bother to consider in their haste to finish this mission.

“They might even take me back to my father,” Weiss says. Another concern that they’re only realizing now, yet one that the fandom latched onto immediately. Though mostly in the wrong way. It’s because Jacques is a threat that they should have found a more covert way into Atlas, or waited to hear from Ironwood, or just send Weiss herself with Cordovin’s blessing… Yes, much of the fandom got quite defensive at that suggestion, claiming that sending Weiss “alone” (she never would have been alone. Bird uncle. Fits into a suitcase grandma) was tantamount to handing her to Jacques wrapped up in a bow. Except, as is made perfectly clear here, it’s their illegal activity that endangers them. Which is more likely to get you sent off to daddy? Acting like a child by stealing military property and then getting caught? Or entering Atlas as a huntress with a special operative’s blessing, carrying instructions that you are to meet with Ironwood as soon as possible? To say the team dropped the ball on this one is an understatement.

Those, however, are all past options now far out of reach. Weiss decides then that she’ll simply call Winter and I absolutely adore Kara’s voice acting here. She managed to imbue so much into a single name, conveying Weiss’ realization, hope, and love for her sister in just two quick syllables. I feel like I got more insight into Weiss through that moment alone then the entirety of Volume Six. Only problem? Blake notices another feed where a recording of Winter emphasizes that anyone found breaking Atlas law will face punishment---something our group will be quite familiar with by the end of the episode---and Qrow decides that they probably shouldn’t go charging into Winter and Ironwood’s hands until they know more about the situation.

Which is the smartest decision we’ve seen in a while, considering that Ironwood’s own feed leaves little to the imagination. He continues to sport that beard, giving him more of a disheveled appearance compared to Volumes 1-3. His voice is as authoritative as ever and he literally towers high above all the people he’s supposedly protecting, keeping his distance from both the city and the airships that ‘govern’ it. A few moments earlier we got to see the startling contrast between the military life and the civilians’. Warm reds and browns give (in this case a literal) down-to-Earth feel and the neon signs are easy markers of a low-class neighborhood. You know the stereotyped kind: cheap food and cheaper entertainment. Compared to the whites and blues of the Atlas clouds, paralleling their elite (and thereby expensive) technology, the city below feels like a slum in comparison, reinforced by the dirty, drunk, and at times violent background characters that populate it. 

As Maria says later, “A home in the clouds is as bright as it gets,” to which Nora responds, “Unless you’re the one having to look up at it,” something she’d be very familiar with as a child stealing bread in the otherwise plentiful looking Kuroyuri. There are contrasts in coloring, dialogue, as well as framing here. Compare Ironwood’s sky-high observation to Pietro’s existence as a black man, in a wheelchair, doing volunteer work in what’s established as a dump. He’s as “low” as he can possibly be and acknowledges that he prefers to actually be among the people, not standing literally or figuratively above them. Just in case the audience misses these cues, we get some rather ominous music on top of all that and fearful looks between Ruby and Yang.

Ironwood’s recording says that some people may view these as “uncertain times,” likewise contrasting Glynda’s recording in the very first episode, announcing that they live in an “extraordinary time of peace.” Whether there’s uncertainty or not, Ironwood promises that Atlas will remain “safe and strong,” even if the other Kingdoms have begun to falter. The speech has a very ‘Us vs. Them’ quality about it.

“He looks tired,” Ruby comments and I just need to chuck another fandom into the mix real quick because:

Under these circumstances, “tired” doesn’t just require the John Mulaney advice of, “Get some rest, tall child!” It’s a clear dig at the leader’s capabilities and even their mental faculties. “James… what have you been doing?” Qrow asks, thereby re-framing “tired” as the nice euphemism for “gone off the deep end.” It remains to be seen though precisely how much of Ironwood’s paranoia is literal paranoia in the sense that it’s illogical and undeserved, and how much of these changes are highly undesirable, but potentially justifiable decisions. After all, we as the audience know precisely how dangerous Salem and her crew are. We know why Beacon fell. We’re privy to the stakes in a way that the average, angry Atlas citizen is not. All Ironwood can do in the face of such odds is try to prepare for every eventuality… it just looks like he’s reached a point where those preparations have started infringing on basic human rights. It’s a very sad setup. A classic case of the wrong things done for the right reasons.

There’s a check-in from the radio tower, whoever’s in charge wondering why Manta 1-5 hasn’t gone towards their landing pad yet. Maria comments that the lady should take a hint and starts finding a different place to land. Which in hindsight is kind of funny because they obviously did take a hint… and then sent out a special team to deal with the implications of that hint.

As the group starts exploring we get a lovely shot demonstrating how much they stand out in this new environment.

Though there’s some color in the neon signs, the otherwise overwhelming brown/beige/black/red makes elements like Nora’s pink skirt and Weiss’ white hair stick out like sore thumbs. As we’ll see in a minute, there are obviously in-world difficulties with them passing as average citizens, but it’s also a signal to the audience that, for now at least, they’re really out of their depth. This is the “greatest kingdom” referenced in our title. 

Maria is leading them to a friend of hers when a bot takes an interest in these obvious outsiders. It approaches Yang at the back of the group, takes an unexpected picture, and she responds by kicking it into the street where it sparks with damage before getting hit by a truck.

(Flashback to Ruby and Penny, anyone?)

Now, I’m honestly on the fence about this moment. You could make the case that they’re all traumatized fighters and responding to that flash was a logical, instinctual response. You can even argue that, just hours after taking her first faunus life, Yang is more than a little on edge—even though the premier doesn’t reference this incredibly significant event at all, outside of Blake’s quick realization that her blade is still broken. Both are valid and easily supported readings. However, I’m still hyper aware that this is Yang. The character who, for two volumes now, has been characterized very strongly by her, “attack first, ask questions later” attitude. Out of all the characters we could have seen instinctively attacking something that hadn’t actually done her any harm, choosing Yang holds the most weight. The story also lightly acknowledges that this was an extreme response, what with the group staring at her and Yang’s sheepish expression.

Whether it’s specifically in the context of trauma over the fight with Adam, or more broadly acknowledging Yang’s tendency to both assume and act on the worst in people, I hope this volume helps her manage these instincts. One talk with Tai about not punching through problems isn’t going to cut it. Especially when her forceful attitude has caused much of the internal conflict recently. 

It’s after this that the group is accosted by a drunk man, functioning largely as exposition to explain what’s been going on in Atlas and why the people are so scared and angry about it. Pissed enough to get literally pissed, of the inebriated variety. Here then, we return to the “this group of teenagers is really bad at thinking ahead” issue that I mentioned earlier. Ruby is all ready to start a fight---referencing her newfound willingness to escalate situations that don’t necessitate escalation---and it’s Blake who holds her back, reminding Ruby that they can’t afford to cause a scene. Which is fantastic. Except they end up causing a scene anyway when the drunk calls Blake a “stupid faunus” and Weiss uses a glyph to chuck him into the trash.

Is seeing a racist asshole get his just desserts extremely satisfying? Absolutely and from a representation perspective I’m thrilled to see Rooster Teeth taking a hard stance in their story. From an in-world perspective though, that was an incredibly bad decision. We’ve been establishing since minute one of this premier that the group needs to be cautious. Blake herself, the victim here, just told Ruby not to endanger the whole group by defending her honor… and then Weiss swoops in to do it anyway. There are two priorities here, to your friends and to your mission, and the issue is that Team RWBY has a tendency to consistently prioritize the former, something that wouldn’t be an issue if this was still a low-key story about a group of students and not would-be, formal huntresses trying to save the world. The choice to attack rather than walking away---paralleling last volume’s final battle---speaks to their inability to think ahead and weigh their priorities. “It was worth it,” Weiss says, but is it? Now that you’ve caused the scene that you couldn’t afford? Now that this guy recognized your glyphs and you’ve blown your cover? I realize I’ll probably get heat for this, but there’s a difference between calling out micro-aggressions in everyday life and calling them out when you’re fugitives trying to keep an invaluable relic safe. It would have said more about the group’s maturity if Blake had succeeded in avoiding a scene and they expressed anger/sympathy among themselves that she had to put up with that shit. Throwing guys into dumpsters is satisfying as hell, but it’s not the action of a level-headed adult conducting a job.

Provided that the story actually acknowledges how young they are and that it’s expected they make such mistakes, we’re golden. As it is though, these issues are usually brushed aside. Later Maria says that Pietro “likes to keep a low profile. Something I’m coming to realize you know nothing about,” but it’s said in a joking, fond manner. This isn’t treated as an actual flaw and is therefore not set up as something for the team to work on. And that, right there, is the heart of the conflict between RWBYJNR and Ozpin. He’s a fine scalpel. They’re a sledgehammer. RWBY continually introduces threats that require a delicate touch---whether it’s the possibility of spies in your midst that force you to carefully monitor who has what information, or needing to move through a city without drawing attention to yourself---these battles require a certain level of strategy and without fail our heroes are characterized as people who can only solve their problems through direct, immediate violence. You don’t walk away from a fight. Ever. Be it Cordovin or a racist drunk. The more I see of their behavior, no matter the good intentions behind it, the more it makes sense to me that Ozpin lied and kept his secrets. Our heroes simply don’t have the patient, level-headed, forward-thinking personalities required to fight this kind of delicate war. Their talent lies in the hack-’em slash-’em situations. 

Anyway, I’m getting off topic. The group runs from the guards that show up after the drunk guy incident and they manage to make it to Pietro’s place. After some fun dialogue about whether he remembers Maria and the state of his shop, we get a potential explanation for Maria’s strange behavior on the train. Everyone remember this?

Obviously the camera focusing on Maria helps us, the audience, realize that she’s a character who will eventually become important to the story, but it’s also a bit coincidental that she’s hanging out near Team RWBY’s room. Especially when she inexplicably ends up on the back half of the train when everyone else was evacuated. It was clear at the time that she’d deliberately stayed back, but to what purpose no one was sure. Here, Maria gives a general answer about how she thought this group might have needed her guidance while fighting all those manticores… which is still an odd explanation to my mind. Because up until her confession leaving the farmhouse, Maria wants to keep that low-profile. She’s done with being the Grimm Reaper, so why get involved now? Especially when, with hired huntsmen to protect the train and a large group of teens with their own weapons, she probably would have assumed they were all in good hands? Even if it was just a fighter’s natural instinct to help, what would that guidance have looked like? Pretending to be a normal, formal huntress lending a hand where she can? Admitting she’s the Grimm Reaper? Is she still able to fight? There’s still the highly coincidental nature that Maria, the greatest huntress of a generation, just happened to be traveling the same route as and randomly became interested in the group involved with Salem, gods, and the relics.

To be clear, I’m not really arguing that there’s some big conspiracy surrounding Maria. Coincidences are common in all fiction because if things happened based on real-life probability, it would all be pretty boring. Rather, I’m simply pointing out that between losing her eyes as a young adult and coincidentally getting involved with Team RWBY now, we pretty much have no idea what Maria has been up to for most of her life. If the story wanted to establish some sort of betrayal/trickery/what-have-you, there’s room for it.

That would make me super sad though. I quite like Maria.

We learn more about Ironwood’s increasing paranoia, a hint that not everyone on the council is happy with his changes---that mysterious woman we keep seeing on the posters, perhaps?---and the acknowledgement that whoever helped bring down Atlas’ tech at Beacon has to be “Either a genius, or one of our own.” Probably both. Enter Watts, seen typing at a computer in our opening.

With all this info bearing down on them, a few characters like Jaune and Oscar start asking whether they can just leave and yes, please tackle that, because it’s a very important question. Right now the show has stalled the, “Will the group continue the fight against Salem and what’s their reasoning for doing so when they all think it’s pointless?” question by throwing up another roadblock with the relic. They got it to Atlas, but they’re not sure they can hand it off to Ironwood yet, which just leaves them twiddling their thumbs. That portion of the quest isn’t technically complete yet, putting off an answer as to whether and why they’ll go onto the next portion. We need to tackle the group’s new motivations though. Soon. I sincerely hope that when Ironwood announces he has a way of defeating Salem, we finally get the group challenging their own assertions that such attempts are fundamentally useless. We had a whole volume of, “Oh no. Oh god. Salem is immortal and all our work is for naught.” We need at least a little attention paid to the development of a new perspective to counteract that.

Before things can get too bleak though, Pietro recognizes Weiss as a Schnee. Yang, in a lovely moment of support, desperately tries to re-direct the conversation back to the council. Pietro then recognizes her arm, puts it all together to get Team RWBY, and drops the loaded comment, “My daughter has told me so much about you.”

Many fans saw it coming. Even more hoped for it. Honestly? I think that’s great. Too many shows nowadays rely on “twists” that don’t actually make sense, or even undermine the original setup. Those are frustrating beyond belief and feel like the authors are selling out good story for cheap, undesired shock value. The fandom saw Penny’s resurrection coming a mile away? Great! That just means Rooster Teeth did a good job of setting up that possibility and then following through on it.

I’ll talk more about Penny’s introduction in a moment, but first I just want to throw out that I legitimately enjoyed the fight scene. Good action and creative teamwork at times. I particularly liked Weiss and Ren working together to take down four grimm in as many seconds. Oscar likewise takes a grimm out with a very impressive strike… more impressive than I was expecting from him, honestly. Right now I suppose I’m just inclined to shrug that off with, “He and Ozpin are slowly merging, so he picks up stuff way faster than everyone else,” most notably Jaune. Also, I’ll be blunt. I wouldn’t touch canon-based rosegarden with a ten-foot pole. You know, because of all the issues like a massive age difference, two minor characters involved, questions of consent, the fact that Ruby was Ozpin’s student---pesky ethical concerns like that. AUs though? I think the ship is adorable. Provided that Oscar is fully his own person and there’s consent on both sides appropriate for whatever ages they currently are in your fic or fanart? Very nice. So, it’s for those fans that I point out an entirely coincidental parallel: Ruby saves Oscar from a grimm with a bullet in nearly the exact same manner that Blake saves Yang from a grimm with a bullet. Make of that what you will.

Back to Penny though. Overall, am I thrilled that she’s back? Absolutely. I actually spoke about this recently while answering an ask, expressing how much I’d enjoy this very scenario: having her consciousness saved and thus allowing for her resurrection. Do I think her new look is adorable? Yes, yes I do. “And yet,” you say, “It sounds like there’s a ‘but’ somewhere in there, Clyde.” Yeah. Sadly there is. Because although I’m happy to have Penny, I wasn’t particularly taken with how they re-introduced her.

Simply put, there was far too much humor for what should have been a touching, emotional scene. With the exception of one moment where Ruby tries to voice the word “killed,” everyone treats Penny’s resurrection as a surprising, but not terribly notable event. Yang, Weiss, and Blake express a sort of long-suffering fondness as they comment on how wholesome this is. Pietro laughs at any shock over her “death” and shrugs about how yeah, it technically was. Whatever. Qrow takes the time to nonchalantly say that things are going better than he expected. Ruby is holding it all together with barely a blink. Penny herself is nothing but exuberance and funny dialogue. Maria cracks a joke about how she has no idea who this child is. Jaune goes, “Well, that was unexpected” as if Penny had showed up in Atlas when they all thought she was in Vacuo. That sort of surprise. The whole thing is treated flippantly with, “Never a dull moment.” Summarized, all this really isn’t the appropriate reaction to realizing a friend is no longer dead.

Yes, Ruby was the closest to Penny by far---we can’t expect everyone to get misty-eyed---but does everyone remember what her death was like? It was the turning point of the entire series, not just for the audience, but the characters as well. Penny was the first casualty of the Fall of Beacon and her death was appropriately gut wrenching. It was then shown across every TV turned to the Vytal Festival, the moment where the whole world watched their golden girl, Pyrrha, unintentionally murder a newcomer who turned out to be a robot. Moments later grimm start attacking and the safest place on Remnant is destroyed. Penny’s death heralded all that. The one time we see Ruby tackling the trauma of it all is when she speaks with Oscar and, notably, crumbles a bit when she instinctively uses Penny’s catch phrase.

What I had hoped for was the group grappling with the sudden, completely unexpected shock of getting one of two losses back; working through the knowledge that their lives have been defined by two friends’ death and now one of those has been retroactively erased. Perhaps we’ll see that in future episodes, but right now it feels like a disservice to the impact Penny’s death had on the characters and the story to treat this as such a comic, light-hearted moment. Let Penny tackle-hug Ruby and then let Ruby give her a much more sincere embrace. Let her cry. Have Yang put a hand on Ruby’s shoulder, giving her a look that expresses how she understands what this means to her. Have Jaune looking away, devastated that Ruby miraculously got her friend back, but such an event is impossible for Pyrrha. Let him or Oscar or Ren or anyone seriously acknowledge that, holy shit, this is a joyous occasion we never expected to experience. We’ve spent months dealing with trauma and pessimism, now here’s Penny, reminding us that there’s still so much good in the world. Have someone acknowledge that sometimes the impossible happens (cough-defeatingSalem-cough). You can allow the moment to function as the momentous occasion it is and then lighten the mood by having Maria announce that she has no idea what’s going on.

This isn’t the first time Rooster Teeth has implemented comedy when they were better off sticking with drama. See: the choice to animate punching Ozpin last volume in an absurd, cartoon style. So yeah. Happy to have Penny back, but that first moment felt underwhelming, to say the least.

We then have an admittedly very cool shot—

— (semblance? Just awesome drama?) right before the group is taken out in seconds by Atlas’ elite. They’re… I don’t know how to spell their name yet. Is it something like Ace-Ops for elite special operations? Or Aesop like Aesop’s fables? Potentially both? Idk. The fandom will figure that out in the next day or so, if they haven’t already. What’s important though is that this group charges our team with stealing an airship, illegally entering the city with it, and starting an unauthorized fight in the streets. If I could just take one second to…

Ahem. I’m good. Seriously though, if I’m at all optimistic for Volume Seven it’s because the story is finally acknowledging that the group made some pretty massive mistakes last volume. Not that it looks like there will be much punishment attached to that. Between them meeting with Ironwood in the trailer and the Blah-Blah-Ops’ clear status as heroes this volume (they’re in the opening a bunch and seem to be working with RWBYJNR), I’m not yet convinced that this arrest will lead to anything other than getting precisely what they want: seeing Ironwood. To be clear, it’s not like I want the group languishing in jail for twelve episodes. That would be one hell of a boring volume. But rather, I’m interested in whether the story will continue to imply that Atlas is in the right for arresting them, or whether Episode Two will quickly turn that on its head and forcefully announce, as they did in Volume Six, that these actions are an egregious insult because we’re the protagonists. How dare you not let us do whatever we want?

Because the group was in the wrong here. It can be easy to miss considering that the rules they’re refusing to obey are tied up in a dictator-like society---aren’t we the heroes for ignoring and circumventing evil Ironwood’s laws?---but what they actually choose to do has far more of an impact on innocent civilians than it does on The Man. Like endangering all of Argus with your needless battle. Or, to a much smaller extent here, jumping into a fight when you’re not authorized to do that. Now, I actually don’t blame RWBYJNR for that one. They are huntsmen and it’s their job to protect the people. Going out to defeat grimm is 100% their thing. Rather, I’m talking about stuff like their commentary on Atlas’ defenses. When the fight starts we get, “I guess the city’s defenses aren’t doing much” and “Somehow that doesn’t surprise me.” It’s more of that, “Us huntsmen are the only true defenders of the world. Your attempts with robots would be funny if it weren’t so dangerous” attitude. It’s a certain level of arrogance. As we see just a minute later though, Ironwood’s setup works. Because the civilians all know to get indoors. Because he has Penny. The robots hold off the grimm until she arrives, defeating the rest with a speed and an ease that frankly doesn’t compare to what we saw the group accomplishing. She does from above what it took nine of them to manage, often (as we saw with Oscar and Yang) with great danger to them in the process. When they’re bound and accused of unauthorized fighting, it’s clear that they were, in fact, shouldering their way into a situation where they weren’t needed---and potentially causing trouble in the process. Rules exist for a reason. Are they always perfect? Far from it, but in the characterization folding over from Volume Six, the group has forgotten that most of the time rules are there for others’ safety. They have been thought out. This particular situation is easily defendable (of course they’re going to go fight grimm) and there were no consequences to the group jumping in when they weren’t allowed (like property damage or injured civilians), but this moment does function as a good representation of the overall problem. Just because there weren’t consequences for saying, “Screw your laws” this time doesn’t mean there won’t be in the future. Or that there hasn’t been in the past.

It likewise stands out to me that Qrow consistently tires to use his “I’m a licensed huntsmen” as a justification. He flashes it at the two goons on the train to get them to back off. He tires to use it to get past Cordovin. He now tells his captors that he has every right to fight and protect the people because of this card he carries. Qrow is well aware of how important the status of a huntsmen is in this world… yet he’s running around with eight fighters who don’t have that legal backing. I don’t think the show would ever go for my suggestion of another school arc so they could finish their training, but at the very least we should provide some sort of loop-hole for these characters. Have Ironwood provide special licenses based on their heroics at the Fall of Beacon and their work since. Because right now we have a world that’s continually emphasizing being a huntsmen as a job, something you earn the right to call yourself, yet 95% of our group doesn’t have that right in the eyes of their society. We know they’ve done great, secret work to protect the people. But the people only know that these are a bunch of teens with one year of formal training. So you really can’t blame any officials for going, “Sorry. We’re not in the habit of letting random people with weapons cross our borders. Or fight in our streets.” It’s like if a bunch of 14-18yos arrived at a crime scene with guns and demanded that they be let in on a case. No, we never graduated from an academy, but you should adhere to our demands anyway. The good intentions are there, but you need to iron out the formalities first. 

Really, RWBY should just fix the whole license thing with a throw-away plot point if they’re not going to tackle it seriously, just so this isn’t an ethical issue anymore. I’d rather smooth it over soon since the story doesn’t seem interested in tackling whether a group with one year of formal training should be allowed that status. So just give it to them and let’s move on. They might still run into issues with Atlas, but at least the rest of the world won’t be expected to trust them purely on faith. Not everyone belongs to a small town terrorized by a geist, with four random teens as your only option for safety.

Which finally, as the doors close on our group with heavy heads, brings us to the opening. Some things to pay attention to:

1. We get a glimpse of that mysterious woman shown in numerous posters across the city. 

(I’m likewise interested in the very long shot we got on this “show your teeth” graffiti.) 

2. Watts and Tyrian are presented as primary antagonists. Interesting that Neo and Cinder aren’t there (not that I caught anyway), especially since we know they were heading to Atlas last volume as well. It makes me think that they’ll be the true threat at the end of the volume. Keeping things quiet, even in the intro, so we have no chance of guessing their plan.

3. The main conflict seems to be between Weiss and Winter, as opposed to Weiss and Jacques as many originally assumed. Those expressions don’t bode well.

4. We still see an image of Ironwood briefly flickering to Jacques though as an angry citizen throws a rock at it. Implying Jacques is secretly pulling the strings? James has simply become too much like him? We’ll have to see.

5. We get a shot of Oscar and Ironwood… training? Fighting? I’m inclined to say fighting based on his and Ozpin’s past difficulties, but that’s also up in the air.

6. The image of our staff…

…and 7. an absolutely massive cast this volume. As I’ve mentioned in the past, I’m concerned with RWBY’s insistence on continually introducing so many new characters, particularly characters who are important enough to warrant decent development. There simply isn’t time for them all.

(Although, is Maria in that shot? Wonder if she’ll leave the group now that she’s done her duty of helping Ruby out with her eyes.) 

Which brings us to the end of the premier! Finally, I’d like to end with a personal note. As is quite obvious, I’m still watching and recapping RWBY, but I feel like I should be upfront about my overall lack of investment in the series right now. Chock it up to getting burned last volume, fading interest in a long-running show, just growing up and changing… I don’t claim to know precisely why I’m no longer jazzed about a new volume like I once was. But, if I perhaps appear overly critical of what I generally thought was a good—and honestly better than expected—premier? That’s probably why. The details just don’t cut it for me anymore. All caps, screaming excitement over Penny’s return or Qrow’s new outfit just doesn’t resonate much, which leaves me with a more critical perspective on the show overall. So if that’s something you’re interested in, stick around because, baring unforeseen circumstances, there will be more metas over the next three or so months. More invested in a flailing celebration of RWBY as a whole? You’re better off hitting up another blog.  

Basically, you know that shot in Pietro’s?

Note the “Days since our last nonsense” sign combined with the defeated expressions. That’s what RWBY feels like to me these days. A lot of nonsense and limited enjoyment. Ah well. Maybe Volume Seven will prove me wrong and I’ll be re-invigorated by the end of the season!

Until then, ❤️️

Minor Things of Note

Maria refers to the group as “kids” in the airship and Penny as a “child.” Acknowledging last year’s debate, I stand by the argument that just because many (but not all) of the group have reached the age of maturity in our world doesn’t mean they’re on par with the adults they were so recently rejecting. There’s a reason why the very old Maria naturally uses “kid” and “child” and it doesn’t come off as weird.

I really like the design of Pietro’s chair. Giving him something that walks on four legs is both different and a nice nod to nature among all the tech. Also, kudos to the Pinocchio reference on his bookshelf in the form of a whale.

Nora remains as adorable as ever. I particularly liked her energy in Pietro’s and her high-key annoyance at Ren getting a jump on the fight. I’m interested in what we’ll be learning about her this volume. 

Not sure I’m a fan of Rooster Teeth using these squeaky toy noises whenever the group is comically surprised by something. Comedy is great, we need it in this story, but sound effects like that are remnants (ha) of a tone we haven’t really seen since Volume 1. I think the show can still get away with exaggerated facial expressions---Nora in her excitement, Ruby laughing at Jaune’s Pumpkin Pete’s sweatshirt---but this feels a bit out of place now.

“Maybe Atlas isn’t as safe as we thought” and yet, astoundingly, no one is inclined to ask Ozpin to weigh in on this. Even now that they know he’s listening. I think I’ll start a tally. See how many episodes it takes to actually acknowledge, let alone act on, the primary conflict of Volume 6.

Image Credit

Personal screenshots from RWBY 

Transflag: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Transgender_Pride_flag.svg

Doctor Who GIF: https://tenor.com/view/doctor-who-tired-harriet-jones-gif-5627138

How I Met Your Mother GIF: https://giphy.com/gifs/celebrate-2o5Ypf4fP6ahq

[koalala700]

Chronicles of Nick: Infinity Analysis

When I first started doing an analysis, I tried doing a post for the entire series. I realized that it would have been a huge information dump. To better organize my scatterbrained ramblings, I decided it would be best to do this one book at a time. 

Some background: I started out reading the Dark Hunter books and had already finished Styxx by the time that I even got started reading the CON books. There have been so many spoilers scattered in these books and as I try - and fail - to wait patiently for the new SOF series, I’ve been re-reading the CON books and trying to analyze the clues I find. I started coming up with theories about the things I was reading and trying to fit the scenes from the future into an organized timeline of sorts. 

I would like to point out that this is not a review as a first time reader but rather an analysis as someone who has re-read the books multiple times, although I do make nods at my own thoughts when I initially read the book. I am highlighting certain points in each book that I found relevant. Again, please note that this isn’t an analysis or review of the entire series so much as it is me picking apart each book for key points.

With that being said, these posts will contain a lot of SPOILERS. If you haven’t read the books, I would advise doing so before reading this post if you don’t like or want spoilers. 

The biggest focus for me, while reading this series again, was to focus on the future characters and their involvement in the CON timeline. With that being said, the primary purpose of this particular analysis is exactly that. Making sense of the scenes I see scattered throughout the books. I also note certain parallels that are happening in the series. I do my best to kind of stay in order but I'm a little scatter brained so some of what I mention is all over the place and for that I apologize in advance. 

So the first book I want to start with is Infinity. This is the first book in the Chronicles of Nick series. It starts off as an introduction to the characters and sets us in motion for what the series will be about. When we’re introduced to Infinity, we get to see Nick’s past that is briefly mentioned in the DH world. 

While getting an introduction to fourteen year old Nick, we also get a glimpse of the Ambrose Malachai centuries after we know him in the Dark-Hunter  world. For me, the book was entertaining but really the overall take away from the first book was an introduction to all of the characters: Nick, Ambrose, Adarian, Kody, Caleb, and all of the familiar faces we know and love from DH as I mention above. Having originally started out with the DH series, there were a few things I already knew quite a few things about Nick, before even starting this series. This includes: Nick being the Malachai, that he would become a Dark-Hunter, his mother would die, who and what Caleb was and that he knew both Styxx/Bethany.

The series starts out as with Nick, at fourteen, living in poverty and very much an outcast at his school, St Richards. Something I didn’t realize was that this was a school for the supernatural to attend. We get to see characters again from the Were-Hunter series as well as some of the Squires from the Dark-Hunter series. This book introduces who Nick is and is the first time we have a really deep insight into his POV. I liked him enough in DH but after the events of Seize the Night going forward, I was frustrated with his character. I think that is part of what delayed me reading this series as much as I did. I’m glad I rethought that idea because his series really blew me away.  Nick is a lot more than what we see in the DH series and much like other characters we love and/or hate, he is a lot more layered than I initially realized.

This is also the first time we encounter Ambrose in series who poses as Nick’s uncle from his father, Adarian’s side. We find out that Ambrose is there to change Nick’s future so he doesn’t make terrible mistakes that result in the end of the world. While this is the first book we introduce Ambrose, this is also the first book where Nick begins getting introduced to who he truly is. This is one of the first parallels I noted. Most initial novels of a series are an introduction so I'm just stating the obvious but both Nick and Ambrose are introduced as characters and to each other in this novel.

Why me? I don’t understand why this is happening and why they’d give two spits about controlling me. I can’t even walk across the floor without getting grounded. 

“Nick, you are key to some of the rawest, most potent powers ever created. The battles for your possession will scar you in ways you won’t know until it’s too late. If you listen to me, I can save you.”

I’m key? Dude, you seriously have me mistaken for someone else.

“No, I don’t. I, better than anyone else, know exactly how powerful you are and what you can do. And deep inside, you feel those powers too. You’ve spent your whole life denying them. Saying it was Menyara or some sixth sense. It’s not a buried sense. It’s your birthright and you have got to embrace it or you will lose everything that matters to you.”

And if I don’t believe this crap?

Images of a dark, frightening hole flashed in his mind. He saw himself in the future looking a lot like Ambrose. Alone. Bereft.

Tortured.

Most of all, he was inhumane and cruel.

“If they can turn you evil, they will be rewarded and you will be ruined. And everyone you love will pay the price.

“Everyone.”

Nick shook his head in an effort to dispel the horrific images. Terror choked him as he feared becoming the monster his father was. Of becoming the creature he’d just seen.

I don’t want to be evil.

"You can’t just say it and make it so. It’s not that easy.”

Of course it is. My mom tells me all the time that we decide between good and evil. What we are is completely up to us.

“And things drive us to make decisions that are beyond our control. Just like your mother. You know how much she hates dancing and yet there she is every night, right on time, often working double shifts to bring in more money. For you. And you haven’t been betrayed yet, Nick. You don’t know what that’s like. What it does to you. The scars it leaves that never fade.”

Not true. Alan, Mike, and Tyree had all betrayed me.

“And you want their blood for it.”

I want to bathe in it.

“That’s exactly what I’m talking about. That’s the evil seducing you. The malevolent power that is crawling through your blood tempting you onto a treacherous path that will cost you everything you love and hold dear. You have to let that anger go before it’s too late. Vengeance always turns inward and it will consume you until nothing’s left but an empty hole that nothing can fill.”

Nick bristled as he saw that night again—the glee in Alan’s eyes as he pulled the trigger. They shot me!

“And they will pay, but not by your hand. Trust me. Karma has her own plans for them and what she has in store is more painful than you could ever dream.”

I don’t know about that. I have one great imagination. And letting it go is much easier said than done.

Ambrose laughed in his ear. “Believe me, I know.” Infinity

This conversation mentions a few things I already knew and points out what will happen if Nick doesn't accept his destiny and his powers. However, the point I want to take away is the “karma” that Alan and Tyree end up experiencing. The more I read and re-read, the more I wonder if Ambrose knows everything that is going to happen. It’s not himself that he’s trying to stop. He knows his son is the one who will end everything and that comment seems like a sly little way of adding foreshadowing. We see what ends up happening to them in Invision. 

The conversation continues and Ambrose explained what Nick really was. There is also some sympathy towards his father, Adarian. By the end of CON, Nick also understands his father and puts away his hatred of him. I spend time going back and forth wondering how much Ambrose knows and remembers about CON. Is it from his own experience as a father that he understands? Is it just from growing as the Malachai and being consumed by hate that he understands? Or does he remember from CON what his father did for him in the end and the choices he was forced to make? 

“We”—he indicated the two of them—“are the last of a cursed race. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it’s our prime nature to hurt others. When they’re weak and hurting, we swoop in for the kill. But I’m hoping you have enough of your mother in you that you’ll learn to curb those impulses and learn to let things go that I never could.”

Nick hoped so too. I don’t want to be anything like Adarian.

That eerie red tint returned to Ambrose’s eyes—not that Nick needed a reminder that the creature net to him wasn’t human. “Neither did he and he’s not quite the jerk you think he is. In time, you’ll understand him better than you’ll want to. And together, if we’re lucky, we’ll keep you from following in his footsteps. In the meantime, I have to reach you everything I know as quickly as I can.”

Why the rush?

Orange flickered in his red eyes, like dancing flames. “My time’s running out and soon I won’t…” His voice trailed off.

You won’t what?

“I won’t care anymore. About anyone or anything… not even you.” Infinity

When I began reading this book, I was thinking it made sense that Ambrose went back (assuming he didn’t know about who would truly rise to take power after him). If you’ve read about Nick in the current timeline, he’s not in the best of places. Nick lost so much in the current timeline that it stands to reason that he would want to change things, if he could. It should be noted though, from the glimpse to the future, that it isn’t going very well.

“Why can’t I stop it”? he snarled. Why, with all of the powers he’d mastered, all of the elements he controlled, couldn’t he prevent a mere fourteen-year-old boy from being an idiot? No matter what he did, certain events kept unfolding.” Infinity, 329.

This was pretty fascinating to me as someone who had only read DH. Given what I understood about Nick in DH, he didn’t even know about the supernatural until he was out of high school but in CON, he knew about it sooner. This was first brought up in Night Pleasures. It seemed noteworthy that nothing was changing, despite Ambrose having gone back in time and that certain events happen differently or sooner.

This gets explained later in the books why nothing is changing but it was always one of those tidbits when I first started reading that really made me think - that gets the wheels in my mind turning. While re-reading this scene in particular, it seems like maybe things are changing. Maybe he did make an impact but the end of the series just brings us back to square one but Ambrose doesn’t realize this yet. Time-travel is different in every universe but I imagined initially that any changes Nick made would automatically affect Ambrose. 

Another conversation that I think is kind of important but can’t really explain is the one between Ambrose and Caleb. 

“Caleb leaned forward, between Nick and Ambrose, then said in a low tone, “By the way, boss… you’re not as covert as you think, and I’ve heard everything you told the kid in the car.” He looked straight at Ambrose. “Nice coat, but I prefer the black suit you had on the last time we met.”

Ambrose made a Vader move that made it looks like something had grabbed Caleb in an invisible choke hold. “Don’t push your luck, Malphas.”

Caleb relaxed as Ambrose moved away. “You know, Nick, I like you so much better than that prick.”

For some reason, Nick wasn’t sure that was a compliment.

400, Infinity.”

What does Caleb mean by “the last time we met”? That is something I still haven’t been able to figure out. Is this a hint towards everyone going to the future at the end of the series? Or is this simply Caleb’s coy way of saying that he’s seen him before with Nick. I may be reading too much into this (like some of the other scenes) but some of the conversations and events are hard to make heads or tails of.

The more you read this book though, the more bits of foreshadowing you encounter. One scene that was definitely foreshadowing - that has already played out in DH - is Nick’s death by Ash’s hands. This is one of the more obvious ones, assuming you read DH first. 

“At least let me get laid before you kill me... So you have to wait a good ten years before you snuff me. Deal?”

..... “Ten years, huh?”

“Yeah, you can kill me when I’m twenty-four, provided I’m not still a virgin, but not a day before that.” 

“All right. It’s a deal... provided you keep your trap shut.” 

“Trap nailed shurt, sir.” 

“But at twenty-four...” Ash let his voice trail off. 

“I’m all yours, babe.” 

204-205, Infinity.

Neither character at this time realizes the implications of this conversation. I know Ash doesn’t implicitly swear this, but it seemed like both him and Nick had just set both of their futures in motion by speaking this aloud. As the final fate, Ash pretty much just said what Nick’s fate would be. Ironically, Nick doesn’t realize that he, too, has called on his own death. It seems like this is one of the events that I think completes the circle when it comes to time-travel. Ambrose wants to prevent Ash from being the cause of his death, but what if this scene is proof that it was always meant to happen that way? Like a pith point.

This is also not the first time that one of the two of them have said something that sets Nick’s future into motion. I’m pretty sure in Dance With the Devil or The Dream Hunter (I can’t remember which), Ash actually makes a comment about Nick living and dying for his mother. Madoc then makes a cryptic comment about it being a shame that Ash can’t see his own future (or more appropriately, those close to him). This scene in CON reaffirmed for me that this was always going to play out this way. 

The further you get into the series, the less things started making sense (in regards to what we are made to believe so far). That’s a big part of why I made a point to start writing out notes for myself. The thing that was hard for me to understand were some of the times that we get scenes from the future compared to the knowledge that the characters in CON have. It isn’t until the end of CON that some of that confusion is cleared up. 

The first thing that confused me was about when the time-travel began and this scene was probably a little over mid-way through Infinity. We see that Ambrose has started time-traveling centuries after the timeline in CON,

“Ambrose grabbed the bookcase and slammed it to the ground, spilling the ancient books he’d carefully collected for centuries across the floor of his stygian office.” Infinity, 329.

Here’s what kind of perplexed me when I first read this. As previously stated, Nick wasn’t always my favorite character in DH. I did understand why he was so angry at the world, after the events of StN, but if centuries had past since his mother’s death and his conversion as a DH, why go back now to change his future? What changed?

While I also knew he definitely had some moments where he is infuriating in the series, it seemed odd that he would actually end the world centuries after his mother’s death if that is the supposed catalyst is the reason for his downfall. Especially when it seems like, later in CON, he’s starting - I say starting, not that he has completely - to come to terms with his mother’s death (in Time Untime, for example). Why not end the world once he found out what he was in DH and unlocked his powers? I always imagined that if it was a future Nick changing the events in CON, it would stand to reason that the future Nick would be closer to the timeline in DH than one that was centuries in the future.

There is another thing I found worth noting. We find out that Ambrose has no idea who Kody is and doesn’t remember her. This scene was initially weird to me because if she becomes a part of his past, why wouldn’t he remember her? Any changes he had made would affect his current memories. Until you get to the end of the series, this is a little confusing. Even going on the assumption she was added to a timeline and had not been there before, Ambrose would still know her from Nick’s memories. 

Nick flinched as he forced that memory away and turned his thoughts to something he’d said to himself earlier. “Who is Nekoda?”

Artemis gave him a blank stare. “Never heard of him.”

“Her, Artie. It’s a girl.”

One of her perfect brows shot up as a jealousy darkened her green eyes. “What kind of girl?”

“I don’t know. Nick knows her.”

“You are Nick.” Her tone was testy.

“Exactly. How can I not know who she is?” How could he not have seen her as he looked back? For some reason, she was a complete ghost to him. No matter what power he used, he couldn’t find this piece of his past. Even with certain aspects altered, he should still be able to hone in on her.

Yet he couldn’t.

Why?

Artemis shrugged her thin shoulder, “You forgot her. It happens. You were human… once.” 333-335, Infinity.

While confusing when first reading this (assuming I knew how I time-travel worked), I didn’t think much of this scene at first. It later made me wonder if this meant that she was hidden from him, similar to how Tiyana was (in Inferno, Nick learns the store she works at was cloaked from him). What’s I think is important to note about that parallel to me is that Tiyana in DH was Nick’s possible future. She could have been his wife and mother of his children.

We get the impression from the start of the books that Kody will be important and they both have feelings for each other. How does that impact Ambrose, though? How did Ambrose not know about her? It tells me that she’s important to his future later on. It also leads me believe that when Ambrose started time-traveling, she either hasn’t been born yet or he just hasn’t met her yet. For a while, my theory was that she was already born but Ambrose didn’t know her. I also thought that this scene was interesting because at the end of the series, like Artemis says, Nick does end up forgetting about her. A little bit of foreshadowing perhaps? 

As far as the first novel goes, all in all, it was really good. It pulled me and definitely had me wanting to read more. I had several questions after my initial read. Nick is the Malachai. We know this from the DH series but it goes into a lot more depth in CON. In Infinity, my biggest question was why Ambrose was losing his humanity so long after his mother’s death. I was initially curious about Nekoda and who she truly was and her impact in the series. The first glimpse we got into who she truly is was mentioned briefly in Infinity. 

But as he reached it, an unbidden image went through his head. It was Nekoda…

Only she wasn’t the girl he knew who made him laugh and who kissed him on the cheek. She was something else entirely. Dressed in armor, she looked like an ancient warrior, complete with a helmet and shield.

And a sword she was driving straight through his heart.

368. Infinity

I would also like to put a pin in the scene where she drives a sword through his heart, as the person she would actually be fighting isn’t Nick. It’s Cyprian, as he is the one who ends the world. Wouldn't this mean she came close to defeating or defeated Cyprian? Or is it just a metaphor for her mission in the past?

The other scene with Nekoda that I thought was a nod to where she truly comes from is this comment by Simi. Nekoda is from the future where the Malachai has destroyed the world so it stands to reason that nothing could be scarier than that. As a first time reader, both of these scenes didn’t mean much to me at the time other than a reference to why she was sent back in time. 

Simi came up to lean against Kody’s shoulder. “Oh, the Simi thinks you’ve seen things much, much scarier than that.”

Nekoda paled a bit, but didn’t elaborate.

456, Infinity.

If you’ve read the entire series and re-read it, we get what is, in my opinion, the first bit of foreshadowing about Cyprian (Nick’s son).

Ambrose had learned long ago to fear anyone he let near him whose past and future he couldn’t see. Any time he’d make that particular mistake, the person had done their best to destroy him. 459, Infinity.

Don’t get me wrong, I do understand that Ambrose is specifically referencing Kody here and that comment about trying to destroy him does come to a head in Inferno. To me though, it seems like the implied implication here is pointing to just more than that (having read of all of CON). 

Later on in the series, Cyprian is revealed to be his son. Someone would would be “near” Nick but whose future and past he cannot clearly see. It is also interesting because once we are introduced to Ambrose’s son, what does he spend most of our interactions with Nick doing? Trying to destroy him. 

SK is one of those authors that doesn’t write things in her books for no reason. What she writes has some deeper meaning or intention, foreshadowing. I feel like the books leading up to us finding out about Cyprian are scattered with foreshadowing of his arrival into the series. I could just be reading too deeply into things but who knows.

The next post I make will be in regards to the next novel in the book Invincible. The first few books have a couple of points that I would like to mention but it really doesn't get in depth until we get to the last few books. Putting some of these scenes together is helping me make sense of some of my theories I have while reading. Like I mentioned before, I initially tried to make one large post about the entire series but it became a convoluted mess so I decided it was probably better to split it up, book by book. Thanks for reading and please feel free to share your own thoughts, comments, theories as I would love to find more readers who analyze this series as much as I do. 

[ducktracy]

103. my green fedora (1935)

release date: may 4th, 1935

series: merrie melodies

director: friz freleng

starring: tommy bond (peter)

this one has some interesting history. it’s seemingly a sequel to country boy. according to an interview by mike barrier, bob clampett claims he wrote the story for this episode for a story competition. here’s the quote from the interview, which you can read here:

“About the same time as the first Porky story, Leon announced a studio-wide contest, with a money prize to whichever member of the staff turned in the best original story. So many of us entered the contest that the animation footage went down. My story, which was about a rabbit family, won first prize, and was made as My Green Fedora. This gave me a big boost, since I'd just originated a couple of characters (Porky and Beans) and now I'd won the story contest.”

the porky and beans stuff is totally false—friz was the true creator of the two. bob clampett had a habit of passing off characters he didn’t make as his own. but, to be fair, that was just how it was in those days. directors weren’t viewed or respected the way they are today. if you didn’t make bugs bunny, you weren’t important. so EVERYONE in those days tried to pass off various characters as their own, but bob clampett was certainly the biggest offender. really, the characters were a collaborative effort (though they all have their origins, porky and beans originating from friz)

ANYWAY! some interesting history. an unofficial sequel to country boy, peter has to take care of his baby brother elmer, but a hungry weasel decides to intervene.

peter’s mother peeps her head outside the cottage door, looking for her mischievous son. her target overhears her calls, sneaking around the edge of the house and hoping not to get caught. too late. peter’s mother snags him from outside, dragging him in through an open window. it seems she’s going out for the day, collecting her picnic basket and hat. she instructs peter to watch his little brother, elmer (a favorite name for babies? remember cookie’s little brother elmer?) while she goes out to shop, adding a stern “and keep out of mischief!”

elmer watches his mother walk down the lane outside. the coast clear, he shifts his eyes around before puffing out his chest and wailing. what a good gag! we’ve all seen that baby who throws a tantrum just for the hell of it. they get some sort of amusement out of it in their tiny little brains. peter, clearly annoyed, shakes elmer’s rattle, who snags it up and beats peter on the head with it, wailing once more. i love how nonchalant he looks, propping himself up by the elbow and screaming like nobody’s business.

unable to take any more, peter plugs his ears and marches into the closet for relief. i’m sure all older siblings have felt like doing that with baby siblings, right? (i’m speaking as the youngest sibling, so i sympathize with elmer more than i do peter LOL.) peter sulks on a box inside the closet... until he spots a green fedora. he places it on his head and moves over to put on a coat hanging on a mannequin, which disperses into a cloud of moths. nevertheless, he finds a matching green coat hanging by the door and puts it on.

darting back into the nursery, peter sings the titular “my green fedora”. i love this scene! peter’s voice actor is tommy bond, who was butch in our gang/little rascals. he was also the voice of owl jolson in tex’s i love to singa. the scene is very cute—peter’s doing an impression of comedian joe penner, hence his guttural, slightly warbly but very endearing vocals. the dance he does is great, strutting around with a fake cigar. elmer laughs at the act, doing a joe penner laugh (which is highly annoying but VERY funny. peter finds it obnoxious and grimaces before continuing).

elsewhere, a hungry weasel pops its head out of its hole outside the cottage, overhearing peter’s singing. peter finishes the act and elmer gives another laugh, irritating peter. in fact, he’s so irritated that he throws the fedora on the ground, fedora bouncing back up a few times on his head. he tosses his coat on the ground and stalks angrily outside, leaving elmer to his own devices.

the hungry weasel recognizes he has his chance to get in and feast on some baby rabbit. he digs a hole under the floor, right under elmer’s rug. he gets in with ease and ties a handkerchief around his head to give the illusion of bunny ears, a gag daffy would use on porky to convince him he was the easter bunny in what price porky.

lovely staging. elmer, who had settled in for a nap, wakes up and spots the looming silhouette on his wall, happily exclaiming “mommy!” he turns around and screams—a very grotesque shot of the weasel’s bloodshot eyes and elongated snout. elmer tugs in the weasel’s snout and lets go, but it does little to shake the weasel. the weasel dumps elmer in a brown sack and leaps into the hole he dug, pulling the rug over it to cover his tracks.

meanwhile, peter is still sulking along outside. his mother’s words come back to him, and fear pings him. awww, it’s cute that peter has some remorse in this cartoon. i liked how mischevious he was in country boy, but this is a good balance between mischevious and caring. obligatory big brother duties. he senses something is wrong and rushes back to the house, only to find the nursery completely empty. while looking around frantically, he steps onto the rug and plummets right into the tunnel.

very moody lighting in the tunnel scenes, i love it! once peter stops tumbling, he lights a match to see better.

this lighting is phenomenal. the weasel picks up elmer and salts him, dumping him into a frying pan and roasting him over a flame. nice detail of hesitation—it takes just a second for the flames to actually burn elmer. the weasel shushes elmer’s screams, but elmer doesn’t listen, crying “help! help!”

thank god for peter! he overhears his brother’s screams, the match falling as he gets startled. he cries “elmer, elmer! where are you? elmer! i’m coming, elmer!” bad news for the weasel, who stuffs elmer back in the brown sack and takes off.

peter follows the weasel’s tracks through twists and turns. he pops his head out of a hole, where the weasel is waiting just to sock him in the face. can’t go wrong with some slapstick as peter propels through the twists and turns of the tunnels, popping out at ANOTHER hole where the weasel socks him, the pattern continuing.

it’s especially amusing to watch elmer, whose little ears are poking out of the sack, run away, just a sack with legs. the weasel chases him down, while peter falls out of the hole one last time in a daze, knocked unconscious. elmer drops through a hole and runs through some tunnels, parallel to the ones peter slid through. the animation is great. what’s funnier than seeing a little bag with feet run around aimlessly? the camera angles are very nice, too, and really add to the flow of the scene.

elmer is free! or so he thinks. he exits a tunnel and barrels straight into the butt of the weasel, who snatches him up and sneers. meanwhile, peter finally wakes up, immediately becoming punchy and shadow boxing with an invisible foe. the weasel spots he’s being followed once more and crouches in a tunnel. there are two tunnels—one continuing in the ground, one leading upwards. the weasel clogs the ground tunnel and serves as a ramp for peter to run up, running up a tree branch and falling back on his head, another gag that we’ll see quite often (such as in porky in wackyland).

thankfully, a hose is right next to the opening of the hole. a nice little underscore of “my green fedora” plays energetically as peter drowns the weasel out of his hiding place. various geysers gush out of multiple holes, including elmer, who’s closest to peter, and the weasel further away.

peter plugs the hole with his foot and reunites with his baby brother, freeing him from the sack. peter smiles as he increases the water pressure, sending the weasel flying into the air uncontrollably. once he’s high enough in the air, peter cuts off the water, sending the weasel crashing to the ground... right into a cactus patch. strange anecdote i suppose, but i remember one time we were staying at a vacation house which had a tiny little patch of cacti. i don’t know what happened or HOW it happened, but i remember my dad having to spend that night picking out a TON of cactus needles in my skin LOL. the curiosity of a 5/6 year old is a dangerous thing. i think that was the same year i accidentally tumbled down on some of the largest sand dunes on the east coast.

anyway, the weasel takes off in pain, and elmer gives his obnoxious joe penner laugh. all brotherly bonds are broken as peter, annoyed, turns on the hose and sends elmer into the air, smiling as he falls back down. wow, what an ending!

this is a really good merrie melody, especially for its time. friz doesn’t get enough credit. the merrie melodies are no mona lisa, but they definitely brought some much needed entertainment in the era of buddy. peter, elmer, and the weasel all have distinct personalities, archetypal as they may be. i LOVED peter. mischevious older brother who clearly didn’t sign up to be the older brother, but rushing to the rescue regardless. still, if the baby’s annoying, even after all they’ve been through, he’ll still squirt him with water! the song “my green fedora” is ridiculously catchy, peter’s less than perfect rendition very amusing and endearing. this feels a lot like a cartoon you’d see in the late 30s, like around 1938 or so. i definitely recommend it! bob clampett’s influence is certainly lingering. animation was nice, story was nice, characters were nice... i may also be biased since i have a big brother of my own, who i wish would send ME flying into the air with a hose. anyway, give it a watch! i can’t really think of many downsides to it. a happy, feel good cartoon.

link!

[cityofblurbs]

Favorite Sakura Fics

Gaara x Sakura

Best Present Ever by paws-bells

GaaSaku. The cliched method of locking two quarrelsome lovers together in a room works after all, as Sakura and Gaara are about to discover. How could it not, when one is covered in only a towel and the other is not as apathetic as he appears to be?

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Walking Togetherby Zelha

Following the same themes as the other collections, it’s now up to Gaara to figure out how to handle an arranged marriage with a pink-haired medic that somehow, he doesn’t mind to have around, bad temper and all. His siblings are all too amused by this.

Rated: M - Chapters: 15 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Kakashi x Sakura

25 KakaSaku Moments by hikomokushi

25 drabble prompts, written using the prompts from the kakasakudrabble community on livejournal. Various themes, ratings and situations. KakashixSakura Disclaimer: Written strictly for entertainment. I do not own Naruto, nor the characters.

Rated: M - Chapters: 25 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

A Series of Firsts by leafygirl

A series of moments that happen between Sakura and Kakashi on a rotation at an ANBU camp as they discover their dynamic has changed over the years. One Shot. Mature content.

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Chidori no Jutsu by Lucibell

Kakashi Hatake had never known that coming home could feel so good. KakaSaku. Oneshot.

Rated: K+ - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Closest Thing to Family by Silberias

As Hatake Kakashi, General of the 3rd Division, looks around the battlefield after their victory he only wants to see the faces of his family. Crossposted on Ao3.

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Double Edged by nimblnymph

Seduction is like a double edged sword. You never know when you'll go from being the seducer to being the seduced. KakaSaku.

Rated: M - Chapters: 27 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Even a Blind Pig by rabid behemoth

It can be tough to keep secrets from a village full of ninjas. Particularly when Ino's on the prowl. [Set post-4th Shinobi War] [KakaSaku]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Fated by leafygirl

Sakura runs from her past as Kakashi wants to run from life. Naruto and Genma witness the painful trials their friends must go through. Kakasaku Sasusaku - Please be aware there are multiple serious main character deaths. You will probably cry. This story has angst/tragedy/romance and maybe not in that order.

Rated: M - Chapters: 23 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Fated – Alternate Ending by leafygirl

This is an alternate ending to the story "Fated". Read the original first. These three chapters are an alternative ending to the last three chapters of the original story.

Rated: T - Chapters: 3 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Feeling Youby cutecrazyice

It started with a kiss...a touch...a stroke. Now the lines are blurred, and the borders are being crossed - and nothing has ever been more delicious. KakaSaku

Rated: M - Chapters: 23 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Flaming Heart by Creidhe

An unexpected incident, sends Sakura into the past. She has a chance at saving everything, but as the wise say 'Playing with the hands of times brings you the most deadly consequences,' However, Sakura was not one to be intimidated ...

Rated: T - Chapters: 26 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Flow of Life by Ebil Chameleon

He didn't love her. He couldn't love her. He couldn't get attached. But his heart was betraying him. Building bonds that were irreversible. It was love. SasuSaku Chapter 46: Our Finale.

Rated: M - Chapters: 46 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

To Grow a Garden by Wolfy Tales

"So what do you think about having a kid with me, Sakura?" - A family focused one-shot [KakaSaku]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Heart of Patience by alifestylechoice

Kurenai grinned, a small laugh escaping. "Hatake Kakashi, in love. Who'd've thought." Kakasaku, Kakashi x Sakura

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

House Calls by Spoiled Sweet

Always the Team Mom, Sakura opens up her home as a clinic for the hospital-phobic ninja of Konoha. At the same time, her relationship with Kakashi begins to evolve in a way she never expected. M for swearing and later content.

Rated: M - Chapters: 40 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

I Found You Missing by Wolfy Tales

'They're asking us because these soldiers have absolutely no one left to write home to,' Sakura thought with a frown. So she signs up for the Shinobi Letter Exchange, not realizing how large the consequences would be. - AUish one-shot [KakaSaku]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

In Case of Blue Scroll by Leola Majora

In Case of Blue Scroll the Hokage must lock himself in his office and pull his hair out as what he thought were memories of a long lost love turn out to be the memories of a mission he was about to assign his former student, Sakura Haruno.

Rated: M - Chapters: 12 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Just Try by Erika Hearken

The struggles we all face are sometimes almost too much to bear. In those times, everyone needs someone to lean on. Sakura finds that someone wasn't quite to far away after all. In fact, he's been right there all along. And he's ever ready to be that someone she can lean on. Warning: there is a character death.

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Left Behind by Trinnerti

They first stopped training with her, then slowly she was pushed out of the missions before she vanished from their lives. Now seeing her stronger than ever they couldn't stop but feeling guilty. Will their friendship blow up again or will this be the end?

Rated: T - Chapters: 28 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Life Informs Life by Silberias

When Kakashi was 5 years old his father defended him, and when Kakashi was 20 years old he defended his father. And then a fiery woman named Sakura bashed her way into his life and when Kakashi was 50 years old he was glad of it. Parallel views of a life. Crossposted to Ao3

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Packmate by Aria Illusine

Pakkun finally gets tired of Kakashi doing nothing about his attraction to Sakura, and takes matters into his own hands...er...paws. With the rest of Kakashi's summons pack to help! KakaSaku Complete

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Paths by Spoiled Sweet

No one said it would be easy to be a Hatake. One-shots centering on Sakura, Kakashi, and their offspring.

Rated: T - Chapters: 11 - Complete or Incomplete: Incomplete

Point of Grace by Shadow.of.Illusion

“Why can’t you just leave me be?” A muffled sigh answered her question, and she found her gaze suddenly riveted to Kakashi’s cloth-covered mouth. “That’s a very good question, Sakura.” KakaSaku

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Puppies and Babies by Gentlewatersoul

A holiday one shot. Happy Holidays.

Rated: K - Chapters: 1- Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Respect and Understanding by ronny-of-yore

[Complete] 24yr. old Sakura tries to join Anbu. She must seek the help of two old teammates to do so. Will she find love while in the ranks of the elite? A story on how respect can slowly change to love. Kakasaku

Rated: M - Chapters: 17 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Samadhi by Zelha

As the New Year is around the corner, our favorite kunoichi wonders what to do with a suddenly elusive lover of hers. And, of course, she has all the answers she needs ... in some well-known books. KakaSaku, of course!

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Sequential by Winter Ashby

Sometimes, the only way to understand how everything went wrong is to go back to the beginning. [Kakashi & Sakura]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Seven Flowers by bluefurcape

Love doesn’t need words.

Rated: K+ - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Sinch in Time by Blade Redwind

Six years pass. Jiraiya & Naruto left Leaf. Sasuke & Kakashi left too. Sakura's been working with Tsunade. Paths cross as the men return. And somehow the three ninja find themselves hurled twenty years in the past. Summary inside.

Rated: M - Chapters: 68 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Some Light Reading by J-Pop Princess

Sakura's curiosity gets the best of her and she finds herself reading one of Kakashi's Icha Icha books. Little does she know that reading it will result in a world of experimentation on both their parts.

Rated: M - Chapters: 6 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Something Worth fighting For by Spindelhona

Homage to Wolfy Tales I found you missing. This is my version of Kakashi Hatakes' side of the story: War's ugly. But so is Life. You have to remind yourself there's still things worth fighting for. Assuming there is. Unless they're all dead and you're practically homeless. And yet, you have to carry on. You're needed. Is that enough?

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Star of Silver, Heart of Tinby J-Pop Princess

Written for the Kaka/Saku Fairytale contest! Kakashi had never seen the pink haired nurse before that day, but the fact that she wore an eye patch just like him gave them something in common. Or at least that's what he thought.

Rated: T - Chapters: 3 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

The Window by SilverShine

Kakasaku Sakura always wanted to see Kakashi unmasked. This was a bit much though...

Rated: M - Chapters: 21 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Three Blossoms by SilverShine

[KakaSaku] Two and a half years is a long time. Time enough for a blossom tree to bloom three times. Time enough for a child to become a girl, but not enough to become an adult. Time for a heart to crack in loneliness, but not enough time for it to heal.

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Torn by Blade Redwind

Kakashi's past comes back to haunt him when he finds himself facing the prospect of sponsoring Sakura for ANBU where seduction missions are not optional, but required. Now... Complete summary inside.

Rated: M - Chapters: 24 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Unbroken by princezsupastr

When Sakura finds herself facing a rogue ninja, she never dreamed that she would end up fourteen years in the past. Trapped in a Konoha where she must hide her true identity, she runs into a familiar face, except he doesn't seem familiar at all.

Rated: M - Chapters: 26 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Welcome Home by Wonderfoal

[KakaSaku] [oneshot] Sakura is having his baby. Too bad he doesn’t know it.

Rated: K+ - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Will of Fireby Cynchick

Forced to flee their village and the new regime, the loyal shinobi of Konoha must find a way to preserve their way of life and take back their home. As they fight for their future, Team Seven struggles to overcome the past. KakaSaku

Rated: M - Chapters: 26 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Winner Takes All by Clearheart

Heartbroken for the last time, Sakura swears off all relationships. But even as she makes this vow her team-mates take notice of her exceptional skill and beauty. It's not long before there's a fierce competition for her heart. Team 7, KakaSaku.

Rated: M - Chapters: 11 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Neji x Sakura

A Last Request by Mikami

NejiSaku. Uchiha Sasuke’s death, though unforeseen, was not in vain after the final mission of his life. His last words were taken in by the most unexpected comrade, Hyuga Neji.“ Don’t let her be unhappy, Hyuga...”

Rated: M - Chapters: 12 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Affaire de Coeur by Lady Silvamord

Affaire de Coeur: affair of the heart. Not here, exactly, nor anywhere too far away, instances in the lives of two very different people. Drabble series. [30: the last chapter.]

Rated: T - Chapters: 30 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Brought Together by purple-peach

At war with Sound, Neji and Sakura unexpectedly begin to discover common ground and comfort within each other. COMPLETE. NejiSaku

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Cages by Winter Ashby

Neji examines the new cage he's managed to twist his wounded soul into and the pink and green that haunt him at every turn. He wonders what she would taste like. [Neji & Sakura]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Midnight Snack by Zelha

In which Sakura has a craving, Neji is pretty much uptight, and the rest of the Hyuuga Clan is holding back their laughter at their resident tensai. AU NejiSaku crackish smut.

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Promises by Winter Ashby

Neji and Sakura return from the resque Gaara arc, but it looks like they've been hiding something. [Neji & Sakura]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Revelation by paws-bells

NejiSaku Revelations are dangerous things, as Sakura was just starting to find out. They could turn turn your peaceful life upside down and inside out, even if it wasn't your revelation in the first place. Damn Neji.

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Secrets by Winter Ashby

Rough hands and green eyes meet in the dead of night. It was a mistake she never should have let happen, but now she dreams of him and all the dark secrets he holds for her. Someday this will all end, but not tonight… [Neji & Sakura]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Silver and Emerald Days by Zelha

Silver and Emerald Days is a drabble collection by Celtic Oak and Zelha. Neji now lives with Sakura, as their partnership has escalated to another level. Companionship and brilliant love among the two genii. Various ratings.

Rated: M - Chapters: 15 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Three Days Till Home by Winter Ashby

Three days can be a very long time to get home and out of the sun, especially now that Sakura holds a precious piece of information. But, in the presence of the right person, perhaps three days isn't quite long enough… [Neji & Sakura]

Rated: K+ - Chapters: 3 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Tis the Season by Zelha

Set after Silver and Emerald Days. Neji and Sakura, a bit of Christmas loving and some major fluff for this joyful season. Smut alert.

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Sasuke x Sakura

A Full Circle by Lady Momo

Years after his desertion, Haruno Sakura realizes that she and Uchiha Sasuke never did have an ending. But on a stormy, rainy night, as she hangs on the verge of death, she realizes that they never had a beginning either.

Rated: M - Chapters: 12 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

A Highly Contested Topic by Annie Sparklecakes

SasuSaku. He's not lonely, he says, Because he has her. In which Sakura desperately tries to form a bond, and Sasuke grows more and more attached by the day. He won't admit it, but the truth doesn't lie.

Rated: T - Chapters: 3 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

A Twist in Time by wolf08

With Konoha on the verge of destruction, Sakura is sent on a last-resort mission to save her world by traveling to the past. Join her in coping with her old body's shortcomings, testing the natural laws of time, falling in love all over again, and rediscovering who she is. Time-travel. SasuSaku. REAL publication date: Jan 2015

Rated: M - Chapters: 12 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

An Uchiha Christmas Carol by Blade Redwind

Visited by three Ghosts in a Narutoverse version of Dicken's classic tale, Sasuke must endure a front seat view of his life, past, present and future to ultimately decide if his actions, his goals, are really worth pursuing. 4 part one-shot.

Rated: T - Chapters: 4 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Contradicted by HauntedAngel

I was nineteen. I had just passed my Jonin exam. And then I met him..."You conceited, stuck-up, selfish, pathetic excuse of a man!" Unfortunately it took four years and a war for us to fall in love. SasuSaku. EDIT: First chapter now available in Vietnamese! Check out my profile for the link.

Rated: T - Chapters: 24 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Devotion by Annie Sparklecakes

No one ever expected their story to be perfect, because they were Sasuke and Sakura, and things could never be easy for them. But still Sakura hoped, Naruto lied, and Sasuke was sorry. [SasuSaku]

Rated: T - Chapters: 4 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Flow of Life by Ebil Cahmeleon

He didn't love her. He couldn't love her. He couldn't get attached. But his heart was betraying him. Building bonds that were irreversible. It was love. SasuSaku Chapter 46: Our Finale.

Rated: M - Chapters: 46 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Incomplete by letmeannoyyoutoday

AU. Sasu/Saku. When her father told her she would have to marry a guy she knew nothing about, just because that was the best for their family, she knew she couldn't say no, just like she knew she wouldn't be happy. She just never imagined it to be that bad.

Rated: M - Chapters: 39 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Next Contestant by Annie Sparklecakes

When she was 12, Sakura was always protected by her team. Now she's older and stronger, but they're still protective. [Team Seven oneshot][Implied SasuSaku]

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Shades of Grey by Lady Hanaka

Sakura knew that Sasuke would hate her when she brought him back to Konoha, but she was willing to let him do so, as long as he came back. She hoped she could save him from his darkness...but more than that, she hoped he could save her from her own.

Rated: M - Chapters: 26 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Sleepwalking Past Hope by dezmari

"I came back." He managed to speak. "Years too late. I stopped caring, I stopped trying, and by now I just don't care. You, Sasuke Uchiha, don't mean a thing to me anymore." -R&R-

Rated: T - Chapters: 11 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Stay by SouthSideStory

Sakura begs him not to go, so Sasuke stays. And year by year he falls a little more in love with the girl he couldn't leave behind. (AU in which Sasuke never abandons Konoha.)

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

The Perfect Dream by elle6778

When the dream to reunite Team 7 ends, it is surprisingly easy to bury the pain and carry on. But how long can one pretend? SasuSaku.

Rated: T - Chapters: 4 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Two Seconds Away from Home by rawrchelle

Sasuke/Sakura. Non-massacre. You don't need to be extraordinary to have an extraordinary story.

Rated: T - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Variance by dances.with.sunflowers

Life. Sasuke is back, her team is always gone, and the hospital is a grave. Sakuracentric. Updated weekly. COMPLETE!

Rated: T - Chapters: 25 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Shikamaru x Sakura

Hero by Winter Ashbury

Shikamaru reminds Sakura of someone she's tried to forget, because he's an avenger now. But he's also different, because he turns to Sakura in a moment of weakness and she sees him for the first time for what he really is. A Hero. [Shikamaru & Sakura]

Rated: K - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Shisui x Sakura

Training Grounds ThirtySevenby KatMaxKu

Oneshot. AU. Nonmass. Haruno Sakura would have done anything to get her favorite training spot back, but she didn't realize the gravity of her determination...The outtake "The Black Hawk" is up!

Rated: M - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Itachi x Sakura

Mendoususei by Naz-G

Sakura, an S Class Jounin and medic, one of the most powerful Konoha has ever had. Her legendary Team 7 are all part of ANBU. Life's good. Only 1 problem: she's steadily falling for her stoic, gorgeous sex god of a captain. *Sigh*, mendoukusei, ne?

Rated: M - Chapters: 35 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Mango Sorbet by Itaweasel-hime

She needed someone to lean on, and he really did not know what he wanted. All he knew was that they had been brought together by a carton of mango sorbet. Non-mass AU.

Rated: T  - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

A Continuous Circle by JUCHKO

Sakura accidentally stumbles upon the Akatsuki hideout and is forced to use a scroll that was for 'last resorts only'. The scroll takes her to the past, back before the massacre. Rated T just in case. ItachiXSakura Time travel. Sequel up: And the Circle Comes Round. Sister story to Kindred Spirits.

Rated: T  - Chapters: 41 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

And the Circle Comes Round by JUCHKO

Sakura returns, only to find that the old woman was telling the truth. Now she's been captured by the Akatsuki for reasons unknown. Her heart is torn between love, hate, and the mass confusion that comes of finding out things she never wanted to be true.

Rated: T  - Chapters: 60 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Crimson Genii by Zelha

Crimson Genii is a oneshot collection that follows the same themes as Silver and Emerald Days. This time, Itachi and Sakura show how they try to cope with life, duty... and their hidden relationship. Various ratings, Non-Massacre, AU.

Rated: M  - Chapters:15 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

This is my way as a ninja by paws-bells

ItaSaku Prequel to heart strings. To protect her most precious person, Sakura would willingly give her life. Itachi wasn't about to let her die, though.

Rated: T  - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Heart Strings by paws-bells

ItaSaku. Follow up to This is my way as a ninja. When all seems lost, hope comes in the most unexpected of ways. She was never going to be free of him, and for that he was never going to let her go.

Rated: T  - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

Curtain call the final act by paws-bells

ItaSaku Sequel to heart strings. They were never meant to be together. Fate was doing everything possible to tear them apart, but one thing binds them closer than never before. As long as hope never dies, life continues to blossom.

Rated: M  - Chapters: 19 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

The Chance by elle6778

Sakura discovers just how different it is to go on a mission led by Uchiha Itachi. Non-massacre AU.

Rated: T  - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

The Course of True Love by Annie Sparklecakes

It never did run smooth, and it holds true for Itachi and Sakura. But maybe they'll get their happily-ever-after... eventually. Non-massacre AU. ItaSaku. Oneshot.

Rated: T  - Chapters: 1 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

The Way of the Wind by just enough

ANBU Captain Uchiha Itachi had things well planned out, until a medic-nin with ridiculous hair went and made herself interesting. Sakura insisted she was just doing her job, but Itachi didn't quite see it that way. Non-massacre. Sakura/Itachi.

Rated: M  - Chapters: 25 - Complete or Incomplete: Complete

[zwei-the-penguin-with-a-pen]

‘Celebrity Status’

Superstar fashionista. Pop idol. Professional Huntress. Official badass. Many adjectives and titles could describe the fantastically famous Coco Adel. She was staggeringly successful and wanted for almost nothing. She had her best friends with her most of the time, as Fox and Yatsuhashi played music with her. She had legions of adoring fans who loved her style, her music, and her clothing collections.

A cutie to share all of it with would be the icing on her coffee cake.

She had yet to find such a lady. Not for lack of trying, of course. She always talked to this girl or that girl, but most of them seemed to think she wasn't approachable. She would positively LOVE to throw her latest fashion ideas on a lady friend... and then tear them right back off of her. She had broken many girls' hearts without even trying.

She broke men's hearts as well, but only about as often as she broke their kneecaps. She quite enjoyed breaking their kneecaps.

Coco had dated her fair share of women, but becoming a celebrity had changed the dating scene a lot for her. It was more difficult to meet people when they were terrified of speaking to you. Being on a pedestal was fine with Coco until it came to meeting women. Oh well, one of these days the perfect girl would come along.

These coffeehouse gigs were a fun way to meet fans of her music. The clothes and the fighting were amazing, and fashion was always her strong suit, her music was her passion. She would make a sample with her keyboard synthesizer, and Fox would create sultry sounds with his guitar strings. Yatsuhashi made a beat, Moonstone added a bit on the low end, and a masterpiece was born.

Moonstone wasn't performing with them tonight, and he might not perform with them ever again. He was having some family issues at the moment. A new bassist wouldn't be that tough to find. Another girl in the band would be fantastic, Coco thought.

"What's this place called again?" Coco asked no one in particular. She knew the place was in Vale, near From Dust Til Dawn, but she forgot the name again.

"Jumping Beans, or so the sign says." Yatsu stretched and yawned as he answered. They were traveling low-key for this show, and sleeping in a van was not fun for the extravagantly tall man. He pointed to a sign across the street from their hotel. Coco nodded, tossing her beret off her head and checking her hair in the mirror.

"You look perfect, Coco!" Fox told her. She rolled her brown eyes at him.

"You say that every single time, yet I somehow still don't believe you." She replied, and the two of them laughed. They filed out of the van and entered the hotel, checking in at the counter and retiring to their room for now. They had a few hours before the concert, so they might as well rest up.

\/\/\/\/\/

Coco stood in the backstage area, which was more or less just the back of the coffeehouse, practicing her set in her mind. Her most popular song, 'Coffee' was not on the setlist, but she might perform it for an encore.

She glanced out at the packed coffee shop. Her audience was chomping at the bit for this show and the autograph signing afterward. In the small sea of faces, she locked eyes with a faunus woman holding a camera. Her chocolatey eyes melted Coco instantly. She had the cutest pair of rabbit ears atop her head. Brown hair framed her adorable face and cascaded down to her collarbones.

The woman tried to maneuver her way through the crowd toward Coco, flashing a badge and calling "News Crew" at everyone that stepped in front of her. Coco longed to run toward her and pose for a photo, and even more to chat the gorgeous rabbit girl up, but someone called for Coco to come to the stage. She waved to the photog and pointed at the stage.

Rabbit Ears nodded back, pushing her way toward the small stage.

Coco took the stage in her usual extravagant fashion, smashing a key on her keyboard and kicking outward when it produced an explosion sound. "Welcome to Jumping Beans Coffee Shop! I'm your hostess for the evening, the forever fabulous fashion queen, COCO ADEL!!!" She yelled into her microphone. The crowd roared for her.

She grinned at them all and jumped right into her first song, 'Girl is a Gun'. It was a bit different acoustic, but she still pulled it off with aplomb. She jumped around and danced away as she sang, her fingers effortlessly dancing across her keyboard. Coco kept her eyes on the photog with the rabbit ears.

"Yo, Rabbit Ears! Come closer to the stage! Be sure to get Fox and Yatsu in the pictures, too!" She called out between vocal lines. The photog's eyes turned to stars.

"Did you just talk to me?" She yelled, awestruck.

"Yeah, you're the one with bunny ears and a camera! Come closer! I don't bite! Well, not without permission, at least." She joked. The bunny girl moved right up next to the stage. Coco could hear her singing along to the song they were playing. She reached forward and tickled one of the girl's rabbit ears.

She lost it at that. "OH, MY GODS COCO ADEL JUST TOUCHED ME!!" She shrieked happily.

"You've got a pretty decent voice there, Honey Bunny. You want to come and sing one with us?" Coco offered. Hearts poured out of the girl's eyes at the remark.

"Gods, YES! Could we do 'Coffee' please?" The cutie asked her. Coco was hoping to save that one for later, but who was she to deny her beauty the song she wanted? Coco played the opening sequence on her keys, Fox and Yatsu filed in, and the two women sang into Coco's microphone. Coco took her hand and danced with her after the singing finished, the rabbit girl enjoying herself.

"Meet me after the show and the signing! I'd like to see your photos! Also, sorry for grazing your bum with my hand..." Coco told the photog after the song was over.

"It's fine, really! You're my favorite person in the world, so you can touch my arse all you like!" Rabbity smirked and winked.

A few more songs came and went, and Coco and the crew went on to sign autographs. The whole signing, Coco could hardly take her eyes off that woman on the multicolored couch. She snagged up a crew pass for their upcoming full band show with Weiss Schnee and her band and signed the back, leaving her phone number and a winky face.

"Hey there, Babbity Rabbity!" Coco said with a smirk as she plopped onto the couch, scooching as close to the girl as possible. Bunny blushed at that. "So what's your name, Miss Daily Dust?"

"Velvet Scarlatina..." The girl answered breathlessly. Coco smiled.

"Well, Velvet Scarlatina, can I please see your photographs?" Velvet pulled out her camera and scrolled through the shots from the concert and the signing. "Wow, you must be the best photographer at your newsstand! A regular Peter Parker, I'd say." Coco smiled even wider as Velvet turned ten shades of red. "You should totally take photos at our next show! It'll be a full band affair at the Rooster's Teeth!"

"I tried getting tickets, but it sold out ages ago. I also don't think my boss will send me to a show that size." Velvet frowned.

"Well I'd love to see you again, so take this. It should get you in with no questions. If anyone gives you any attitude, send them to me and I'll tear them apart."  She winked.

"Thank you so much!" Velvet tried to say as she stood, though it came out as a jumble of syllables. Coco smiled and stood up, hugging her new friend.

Velvet let out an 'EEP' as she felt a squeeze at her rear. Coco smirked hard at her as she left the coffeehouse. She could hear Velvet cheering from outside. She must have enjoyed the squeeze, or perhaps the phone number was the cause of her happiness.

Her Scroll lit up with a message from her new favorite girl.

\/\/\/\/\/

\/\/\/\/\/

\/\/\/\/\/

Day 5: Team CFVY Member

Do you guys remember ‘Coffee’? I wrote it ages ago. Well, this is kind of a parallel to that fic. The same concert from Coco’s POV.